Monochrome
by MoonRaven95
Summary: "Even if the world were a monochrome, we all have the right to see rainbow colored dreams..." Sara died. And she was born again. Kinda. Her age was about the same but the past behind her was different. Past she knew nothing about. Past she had lived in the Hunter x Hunter world. So what now? Living the life, trying to survive and figure out her past. The Troll-Guide shall pay...
1. White

**A/N: Alright... Don't kill me old readers... I couldn't help it. I promise to continue with Dream or Not as soon as possible... I.E. when I get some inspiration.**

**Anyways. I recently got into this fandom and I can't get enough of it. I love this series! So I began writing this. I dunno how far I'll go but I hope you'll offer me support. Otherwise I might feel that this is no good - I stop writing this. Which is why I hope to get reviews. :)**

**This is based on the 2011 anime as I've not seen the older one nor read the manga. So basically it's like with Sara, the protagonist. Scrach that... this is exactly like with Sara.**

**I'll stop my babbling here and let you read the chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**White: End and Beginning**

Sara leaned back in her chair and stretched. An anime marathon of Hunter x Hunter, one of her favorite anime series had just ended. A week it had taken to watch the 2011 version of the series and it felt good to get her stiff joints pop into their proper places.

"Gaah, finally it's done." The girl sighed while massaging her shoulders. While she loved the series and could only click episode after episode, she was relieved it was over. She probably wouldn't have been able to endure any more days sitting still. And to think she had only recently discovered the series!

Yes, it was a new territory for her but she had been immediately hooked. The characters were amazing, the plot was interesting and it was action anime, not romance one. Originally Sara's interest had been piqued when she'd seen pictures of her two friends cosplaying Hisoka and Illumi and posing with other two cosplayers dressed as Killua and Kurapika. Interesting looking characters made the girl simply curious and voila! She was hooked and practically wolfing the episodes (though she was shocked when she found out that Illumi was actually male).

"Simon… Do ya know when we are leaving?" The girl leaned her elbow against the door frame of her room and looked at the boy lounging on the couch of the living room of their home. The boy looked up from the game he was playing on his phone and blinked twice.

"Oh…" He looked at the clock on the wall. "Mum said in two hours. When she comes from her walk and has taken a shower. Dad should also show up by then. She told you to pack and get off your computer."

"Okay, I packed yesterday already. Thankfully." Sara mused. "I guess I'll take a shower now before mum hogs the bathroom…"

Simon regarded the girl in her late teens for a moment before opening his mouth again.

"You're still in your pajamas? It's almost midday."

"As you can see." Sara twirled in her light pink pajama pants and light blue t-shirt. Yes, she had mixed the pairs of sleepwear for a reason or another. "Anyways, the shower is mine."

"Yeah, yeah…"

* * *

Sara locked the bathroom door and took a look on her reflection on the mirror. She had a wavy, light sandy-brown hair that just barely touched her shoulders. Her eyes were greyish blue of color but in certain light some green could be seen in them. Her figure in the other hand… lacked certain feminine attributes but that didn't bother the girl. She was satisfied to be the way she was. Besides, it was always funny to see if anyone confused her for a boy…

* * *

Just when Sara stepped out of the bathroom while drying her hair on a fluffy towel, the front door opened and closed.

"I'm back~!" A female voice sang.

"Welcome back~!" Sara responded in the same manner before snickering. Mother was always so funny.

"Ah, good that you are finally up, sweetie. We're leaving quite soon to the airport. Have you packed yet?" The woman asked, bustling past the girl and to the living room. "Simon, stop playing with your phone. You'll have plenty of time to do so during the flight."

"Okay…" The boy muttered, stuffing the phone into the pocket of his jeans.

"I've packed, mum. Just go take a shower. Dad's coming soon too, right?" Sara rolled her eyes and continued drying her hair.

"Yes, he is. And when he comes, we're leaving right away. Paris, here we come~!" The woman from whom the siblings had inherited the light brown hair, walked past them again.

The door of the bathroom shut closed behind her. Sara chucked while Simon huffed. Mother was definitely excited about the upcoming trip.

None of them knew it would be their last.

* * *

Sara flipped through the pages of manga on her phone. Unsurprisingly it was HxH that she was reading. After seeing the anime, she was naturally curious about the original work. And one day she would probably watch the 1999 anime too. She already knew some plot points about that one.

Next to the girl, Simon was – once again – playing with his phone. Some game he and his friends had been working with. _Q&A_ was its name. Ask a question and the program gives you an answer. But it was individual to each person. Like a personal dictionary about personal matters. For example if you were to ask 'Who am I?' after playing the game for a long time, it would give you your identity as an answer. Sara had also it on her phone and found it extremely entertaining and useful. Although she wasn't as hooked as Simon was.

"Good game?" Sara asked after a while.

"Yeah."

"How far are you with the Image?" _Image_ meant the profile the program built while getting the questions.

"It says I'm a Gamer."

"Well… you are." The girl shrugged before adding. "I'm a Researcher."

"That doesn't surprise me at all. You are always asking difficult questions about all sorts of weird stuff." Simon looked up from the screen and made a face. Sara poked his puffed cheeks.

"Hey, it could be worse."

"Yeah, you could be a Psychopath."

That deserved a whack on the head. Just when the plane shook dangerously.

"_Dear passengers, there is a bit of turbulence ahead. Please stay on your seats with you seatbelts buckled until further notice."_ One of the flight attendants told via the intercom. The siblings exchanged a glance. For some reason that right now didn't feel like mere turbulence.

"Mechanical problems." Simon whispered, being very knowledgeable about all sorts of tech and mech. Sara nodded. She had suspected something like that, too.

The plane lurched. People screamed. This time it was the captain speaking in the intercom. He was telling he was trying to land in the ocean and pleaded to passengers to remain calm.

"_Landing in water? It's as bad as landing on ground…"_ Sara leaned to look outside. They were just barely below the clouds. _"And we are too high…"_

"Sara…" The girl looked at her brother. Simon was worried. So were their mother and father who were sitting next to them, across the corridor.

"We'll be just fine." Their father assured the siblings. They could see though that he didn't exactly believe his own words either. His wife laid a hand on his forearm.

"Let's hope for the best, dear." She smiled, tears twinkling in her eyes. The man looked at her and put his other hand atop of hers.

"Let's."

"Sara…" Simon began again, a bit more quietly while looking away from their parents. "Do you think this is the end?"

"I don't know. But if it is… I don't regret anything. Except that I never got a boyfriend. And didn't watch Hunter x Hunter the older version. But as long as I'm with you, mum and dad… It's fine." The girl put her hands behind her head and leaned back on her seat. "And who knows… maybe the afterlife won't be that bad." She grinned even though she was shaking internally.

"Yeah." Simon grinned too. "And if we're lucky, we'll find each other again."

"If we're lucky we'll have an awesome life after this one."

It was odd. Joking like that while the plane was sinking in alarming speed. But what else they could have done in the situation? Cry helplessly? Panic needlessly? Rage embarrassingly?

"I hope this won't hurt…" Sara muttered when looking outside once again. The ground was far too close to comfort so she turned her gaze away.

"Me too…" Simon whispered. The siblings shared a pensive smile before linking their fingers together. Their mother smiled sadly at them. The captain spoke into the intercom again but no one heard it. G-forces were pushing them into their seats.

"Goodbye, cruel world." Sara chuckled while remembering what her mother always told her.

"_You should smile more, Sara. It gives better impression on people."_

"_But what if I don't feel like smiling? Should I then just pretend being happy?"_

"_Of course not. Just… smile a bit more."_

"_I can try…"_

"Mum… I'm smiling." The girl whispered, waiting for the crash. She didn't need to though as the G-forces made her lose consciousness. It was white everywhere and when the crash finally came, she didn't feel any pain.

* * *

Sara opened her eyes. She was lying on something not soft but not hard either. The place was white. It was just white. Plain whiteness. No tint of silver or ivory. Just pure white emptiness, stillness.

The girl turned her head left and right. The whiteness continued endlessly. There was no indication of any shadow or shade like normally in rooms were. No color change of any sorts. She got up slowly, as if she was worried about her own condition. She didn't need to though as she didn't feel sore at all or even tired. It was like she'd just laid down and closed her eyes for a second before opening them again.

Once on her feet, Sara continued looking around. The ground she'd laid on was white too.

"Okay… Where am I?" She asked aloud. She definitely didn't expect a reply from a disembodied voice.

"_**Oh, greetings. Sorry I'm late. Did you sleep well?"**_

"Yikes!" The girl practically jumped out of her skin.

"_**Sorry, if I startled you."**_ The voice continued. It was sort of weird. Sara couldn't see anyone or even find the direction the voice was coming from. It came sort of… above her.

"Ah… That's okay… I guess." The girl kept glancing around. "Say… Which direction should I face? So you don't end up talking to my back."

"_**It doesn't matter really."**_ The voice chuckled. It was hard to say whether it was feminine or masculine one. _**"But if you want to, you can talk to this."**_ A floating ball of pinkish purple light appeared floating about two meters from the girl and about a meter from the ground.

"This is so cliché…" Sara muttered. "Dying… I'm dead, right?"

"_**You are."**_ The voice seemed to come from the ball of light now. It bounced up and down, like nodding in process. Sara resisted the urge to start bouncing it more, like a basketball.

"Yeah… I'm dead. I find myself from a weird white place and there's a weird voice talking to me. Speaking of which, you're not God, are you? I'm Christian… kinda, but I never really actually believed in anything. Just let people have their own opinions and move on with my life."

"_**No, I'm no god. I'm no good… Oh, that's a good pun."**_

Cue a facepalm.

"Well, what are you then? And where is my family?"

"_**I'm just a Guide here. Guiding people into their next lives or to Heaven or Hell. It depends entirely on themselves. Your parents are already in their next life. I decided to let them find each other from the same world. Such a happy couple they were. I hope the best for them."**_

"Aren't you supposed to be impartial?" Sara snorted but couldn't help but smiling when she heard that her parents would be just fine.

"_**Why should I? I'm no god here, just a Guide among others."**_

"Right… How about Simon? My brother."

"_**He is the next on the line. I'm still thinking if I should allow him to be born to the same world than you…"**_

"What would be my world then?" The blonde arched her eyebrows.

"_**Why… No other than Hunter x Hunter!"**_

Sara could imagine this Guide having a trollface if it was possible for a ball of light.

"I wouldn't survive a second there! No matter how cool that place is, I'm not going."

"_**Oh…"**_ The voice sounded disappointed. _**"Well, what if I give you the chances to survive? Very good chances at that."**_

"If they are not Mary Sueish… Fine."

"_**Don't you worry, dear Sarah! Everything will make sense once you are there!"**_

The whiteness about Sara intensified until she wasn't able to see anything. So she closed her eyes to prevent getting blind.

"My name is Sara!" The girl shouted as the feeling in her stomach indicated that she was falling.

Falling…

Down…

Down..

Down.

* * *

Sara's eyes flew open. The view she met differed completely from the one she had previously woken up to. This place resembled a cross between a sewer and a cave. And it was full of people. It didn't take long for the girl to realize where she was. The 287th Hunter Exam. Great…

With a slight sigh, the girl pulled closer the back pack that was located next to her. She assumed it was hers since there was no one else around the back was already practically leaning against her side. After digging a while, she found a mysterious letter.

"_Dear Sarah…"_ It began. Sara's eye twitched at it._ "As you've probably found out, you are to participate in the Hunter Exam. I'm sure it'll be an easy task for you with the help of your new body and abilities. And don't worry; everything you can do is the result of this new life of yours. You've trained very hard in order to survive and your goal is to become an Informant Hunter.  
You might ask by now why you are about the same age than you were; 18, instead of being born and living your new life since the beginning. Well, I thought it'd be funnier this way. There are people who already know you but you naturally don't know them. Well, you know them after reading the manga…"_

"I watched the anime…"

"…_and might recognize them but you still don't 'know' them. Why? This new life of yours happened to encounter a nasty accident while on a way to the exam site and decided to sleep her fatigue away. Resulting amnesia. And this is where I decided to plant you in!"_

"Damn Troll-Guide… Who wants to bet that he arranged that accident? Though amnesia is a reasonable explanation for why I have no recollection of the events prior this… this."

"_Some things might trigger flashbacks of your current life so take them seriously. The rest… well, you shall find out yourself. I'd start with the contents of your bag. And if I were you, I'd also trust my muscle memory when it comes to fighting._

_Best regards  
Guide."_

"And no word… Wait, there's a post script."

"_P.S. Your brother is also in this world but you have no blood relation to him. His current age is about ten years since he has lived with intact memories since an infant."_

"Right… First, I need to get rid of this letter…" Sara dug her hand into the pocket of her trousers and pulled out a lighter. "What the…" She stared at it. "Muscle memory, right…"

A simple flick of a finger and the letter burnt into ashes.

* * *

After ten minutes of going through her stuff, Sara found out a lot about herself.

Firstly, she had declined the juice Tonpa had given to her. The flashback hadn't been too nice. The man had practically pushed the can into her hands. She had opened the can and poured its contents over the man's head while telling him next time to buy juice that isn't expired. To prove her words, she had showed the date in the can. The man had shuffled away, obviously disappointed. After that she'd settled down to sleep her headache away.

Secondly, she hadn't arrived too early nor too late. Her number plate was saying #173 which seemed to give some sort of indication of the skill her current self had gathered.

Thirdly, her name was Sora now. No surname. Her age was 19 and her birthday was in March. Blood type was same than before, O.

Fourthly, she had some impressive weaponry. At least in her own opinion. Compared to others, it was probably nothing. She had two pairs of knives or daggers, probably knives since they didn't have the horizontal part separating the handle and blade, which were linked together with a chain. The chain was about meter long but Sara had a feeling she could make it longer or shorter if needed. At least she had some extra links in her bag. Aside from the knives, she also had a staff which she could hang diagonally on her back. And what's best, it was a telescopic one. When it was in the short form, it was about a half a meter. When in the full length, it was about two meters.

Fifthly, her appearance was about the same than before her death. Only that her eyes were bright green with a faint bluish tint. And when testing her muscles, they felt tighter, stronger. But she wasn't exactly buff, just… agile.

With a sigh Sara – now Sora – pulled her hair away from her eyes and tied it on a high ponytail. She observed the people around her. The highest number she could spot was #394 which meant that the arrival of the protagonists was quite near.

Setting her right leg outstretched across her left one, Sora leaned back with her arms crossed on her chest. The waiting began.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, here was the first chapter. Tell me what you liked about it. I'm currently rewatching the episodes and writing the next chapter. Troll-Guide has some surprises in store was Sara/Sora. Mwahahahahaa!**

**Some of you might already be asking about pairings. I haven't planned anything yet. You can throw in some suggestions though as long as they make sense when you take count on her age. So Gon and Killua are already out.**

**From now on I'll also call her Sora. The only to call her Sara will be Simon but he won't show up for a long time.**

**Oh, and if you want to, you can also throw in suggestions what sort of background she has. I'll be glad to hear your ideas.**

**()**

**But, bye! Until next time! (maybe...)**


	2. Sky blue

**A/N: Alright, I got the second chapter done. The color of the chapter corresponds to Sara's new name, Sora which means 'sky'.**

**In this chapter you shall have interractions with canon characters and first peeks into Sora's abilities.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Sky blue: Phase One**

Sora didn't need to wait too long when the door of the elevator opened and three people stepped in. Gon, Kurapika and Leorio. A soft smile crept on the girl's face. It was nice to see them like this: alive and well. And real. She still barely could believe that she was actually living in the world of Hunter x Hunter but hey, she'd get used to it. Especially after figuring out what she could do and what sort of past she had.

The blonde's eyes narrowed slightly when she saw Tonpa approaching the trio but decided not to do anything yet. Gon would save them from stomachache anyways.

"Oh, you're awake." A young male voice stated from Sora's left. The girl looked up to see a mass of soft snowy white hair and pale complex of a twelve-year-old boy. Killua Zoldyck was standing right next to her. When had he arrived there?

"I am." Sora smiled slightly. The boy didn't look at her, instead kept his eyes on the trio(+Tonpa). The girl followed his line of sight silently.

"You slept quite a while." The boy stated, glancing at her.

"I guess…" She shrugged. "Sleep did some good."

"Must've been one hell of a headache then."

"Huh?" Sora's head snapped up again.

"When you arrived, you poured juice on Tonpa and walked straight to this place, complaining a headache and giving off a murderous aura before falling asleep. No one dared to approach you." The young Zoldyck heir chuckled.

"Well… Now my headache is gone and I'm ready for this test." Sora smirked. "I think I can use this situation to my advantage though… People think I'm weakened and distracted due my headache… They are bound to underestimate me."

Killua shared the smirk before taking a step away from the wall. "Well, first you need to get through the phases as well. Are you capable to do that?"

"Don't get cocky, kid. I'm more than capable." Sora called after the boy's retreating back. The kid just waved his hand and disappeared into the crowd.

"… at least I hope I am." The girl added as if as an afterthought.

* * *

A scream pierced the air. Sora snapped her head to look toward the source of the scream. It was the man who bumped into Hisoka and didn't apologize. His arms were disappearing and the magician – perverted clown – himself was just chuckling.

"Oh, how peculiar…" Hisoka stated coldly. At the moment he looked more evil and mean than he would later. Later he'd be just creepy and… kind of neutral. "His arms seem to have become flower petals. No smoke and mirrors here. Do take care. When you bump into someone, you really should apologize."

With that, the red-haired magician walked away, everyone giving him a wide breath. Sora watched his retreating back with a blank face. Her expression hadn't changed at all when following the unfortunate applicant to lose his arms.

"I better stay clear from him…" She mused before turning her attention back to the trio by the elevator. Following them was a good way of keeping track on time. And indeed, Tonpa was offering juice to them.

Sora got on her feet. Some applicants glanced at her. Their numbers were below hers so they probably had seen the scene she caused according to Killua. The blonde ignored them and made her way to the quartet. Gon, Leorio and Kurapika were already getting rid of their drinks. Tonpa was shocked by that.

"I'm sorry!" The despicable man went on his knees. "I didn't realize the juice had gone bad."

"You didn't?" Sora asked quietly. "I told you, didn't I? And you still went around with that juice of yours."

She was just close enough for Tonpa to hear. The man froze just when Gon was telling him everything was alright. The fat man bid them goodbye and scurried away as soon as possible, making sure to pass Sora as far as possible. The girl watched his back with narrowed eyes and once she was sure he was far enough, she continued her way to the trio.

"You okay?" She asked them.

"Yeah." The twelve-year-old boy nodded.

_Cute…_

"Good. I was worried. He offered me also the juice but it was expired too." Sora glanced at the direction of the man again, but he was gone already. "You shouldn't trust him too much."

They were going to though… Until he showed his true colors in the Trick Tower.

"If he treated you juice too, does that mean you are also a first-timer?" Kurapika asked her then.

"Yep. But I'm quite sure I'll be fine though…" The girl stuffed her hands into the pockets of her trousers and rocked on her heels a bit while smiling. In the process she felt what she had in those pockets. A lighter in her left one. A cell phone in her right one. She probably should go through it later.

"What's your name then?" Gon asked eagerly.

"Ah, right. Where are my manners? My name is Sora."

"I'm Gon. This is Leorio and Kurapika." The spiky-haired boy introduced his friends too.

"Nice to meet you, Gon-kun, Kurapika-kun, Leorio-san."

"Nice to meet you too." Kurapika nodded. Leorio agreed silently, obviously pleased that someone showed him respect.

* * *

_**Riiiing, riiiiing, riiiiiing…**_

It was a sort of a bell that immediately caught the attention of every single applicant. When the ringing ended, the wall in the end of the space slid up with a lot of noise. In the other side of the wall, waiting for them, was the examiner in his bluish violet suit and the weird bell hanging from a thread in his hand. He had funny moustache, lilac hair and no mouth. When he began speaking, his moustaches only moved.

"I apologize for the wait. The entry period for Hunter applicants has ended." The examiner, Satotz, 'spoke'. "The Hunter Exam will now begin!"

"Here we go then." Sora smiled, adjusting her backpack. She brought her hands in front of her and took a deep breath.

"_This body better not fail… Otherwise I'll find a way to beat the crap out of Troll-Guide…"_

"A final caution." Satotz continued as there was some movement in the crowd. "If you are short on luck or ability you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you."

Sora glanced at the protagonist trio behind her. "Good luck guys!"

"Good luck, Sora-san!" Gon told her in excitement.

"Thanks, Gon-kun."

"Very well." The examiner's voice rang again. "All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One." He turned on his heel and in quite comical manner began marching forward. Everyone began following him in a fast walk. Leorio commented how no one turned around and about that time Satotz began picking up pace, forcing the applicants to run. Sora also began jogging among everyone else.

"I neglected to introduce myself. I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner. I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase."

"Second Phase?" Hanzo commented. "What about Phase One?"

"It has already commenced." Satotz replied. Muttering erupted in the crowd and Sora couldn't help but sigh. If already getting the beginning of the Exam was test after test, why wouldn't the Exam itself be.

"You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the exam's first Phase."

"Follow you? That's it?" Hanzo commented once again. For a ninja, he was quite talkative, maybe even mouthy.

"Yes. I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You need to follow me."

While Leorio mused the test to be an endurance test and Kurapika realized the mental aspect of the choice of test, Sora stayed quiet and focused on running. It felt quite easy for her and she wasn't tired at all like she would've been back in her previous life. She even felt like she could go much, much faster.

"_Just how fast can I go? No, I have to preserve my energy. I don't know my limits yet. According to the Troll-Guide, I have very good chances in this Exam but he didn't elaborate at all. So I have to be careful and experiment later."_

* * *

People started dropping due exhaustion. Sora didn't spare them a glance. Better try again next year. Or not, since Killua would be the only one passing.

"Ho ho ho ho." An irritating sound reached the girl's ears. Nicolas. The short man in completely wrong sort of clothes for this type of Exam run his way to the front of the group while typing on his laptop. The idiot. Trusting into data while there was nothing consistent with the Exams. Sora scoffed. She had hated the character since she first laid her eyes on him. The stuck-up prick. Though, she hated Tonpa more…

The group had dispersed and now there was more space to run. Sora and navigated her way to the middle of the group, leaving Leorio and Gon behind. Let the duo met up with Killua without her interference…

The girl looked around her. She could mostly see only applicants whose names she didn't know in advance. Though Pokkle and Ponzu were quite close. And Kurapika was on the far right from her. Hisoka and Gittarackur were somewhere ahead of the girl and to be honest she had no intention of catching up with them. Besides she didn't feel like gathering any attention by running ahead of everyone else.

* * *

Sora wasn't sure how long had it passed already. Her mind was blank and thoughts focused on her feet. She wasn't tired at all yet. It was like running was natural for her. So when she took a look on her wrist watch, she was surprised to find the Exam had begun about four hours ago.

_Thump._

The girl glanced behind of her. Leorio's briefcase had fallen on the ground. A small smile found a way on her lips.

"_Gather your strength for a moment and find your determination, Leorio. You'll do just fine."_

"DAMMIT! I'M GONNA BECOME A HUNTER!" The businessman-looking teen roared and zoomed among the rest of the applicants. They began running up stairs not long after that.

* * *

Satotz picked up pace, bouncing several steps on one leap. Murmuring(read: complaining) arose in the front of the group, Hanzo and Gerreta being among them.

"_Hmm… If I step every other step, I'll preserve my energy more. And with my speed at the moment the distance between the steps isn't a problem."_ Sora shifted her pace too. It was easy and she had done it already back in her previous life: taking every other step of stairs. Quite close to her, Leorio and Kurapika were in the middle of yet another spat, this time about Leorio's real reason to become a hunter. And when Kurapika smiled after finding out the reason, Sora could easily see where the LeoKura or LeoPika shippers came from.

"Kurapika, see you at the goal." Gon and Killua had reached them.

"Catch you later, old timer."

"I'm not old!" Leorio retorted. "I'm a teenager, just like you guys!"

The time froze. Sora had to suppress a chuckle.

"Huh?"

"No way!"

She couldn't hold it back anymore. A joyful laugh rang in the tunnel.

"What!? Don't mock me, I'm telling the truth!" Leorio spat. Thankfully her laugh was interpreted as a reaction to the young man's declaration and not to the other three's reactions.

"I don't…" Sora had to regain her senses. "Just… wow. How old are you then?"

"Nineteen."

"Me too. Should I call you Leorio-kun then?"

"Don't you dare!"

"I don't? When is your birthday?" She smirked though she already knew the answer, March 3rd.

"The third of March."

"I see. Mine is the fifteenth. I lose…" The girl let out a mock sigh. "But this only means that you are the oldest among us, right?"

"So he is old timer after all!" Killua announced.

"I'm not!"

With yet another laugh, Sora ran ahead of them. Gon and Killua followed her a while before running past her too.

* * *

Eventually the light was seen in the end of the tunnel indicating the end of the first part of the Phase One. Sora sighed in relief. She wasn't tired but the running had been quite boring. Well, there was only one way to get out of the tunnel. Sora increased her speed. Damn the attention, she wanted out.

When the girl reached the top, Gon was just asking Satotz if the place where they were was the place the Second Phase of Exam was held. The answer was negative but gave Sora a chance to look around.

"What a dreary fog we have here." She couldn't help but comment.

"Ah, Sora-san you made it too!" Gon greeted the girl.

"That I did." The blonde grinned and turned to look at Killua. "Didn't I say that I'm more than capable?"

"That was just the first Phase. There's more to go." The white-haired boy replied cheekily. "Who knows… Maybe your headache will come back."

"No, it won't!"

* * *

More applicants reached the top and when Kurapika and Leorio arrived, the fog began to fade. Satotz started to explain the next part of the Exam.

"The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures that deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful. If you let them fool you, you're dead."

Behind them the door to the tunnel began descending. An unfortunate applicant tried to get through but was too slow.

"_Well, good for him. In that condition of his, he wouldn't have survived long."_ Sora thought but stopped. When had she become so… so used to everything already.

"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey." Satotz continued, drawing the attention of the applicants back to him from the door. "An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit… Hence the name Swindlers Swamp. Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."

"Gheh! What a joke." Leorio got up finally from the slump he had fallen into when arriving. "How can they fool us, when we're expecting it?"

"Don't let them fool you!" A male voice shouted to everyone.

"I just said they can't…"

"D-Don't fall for it…" A beaten-up man appeared behind the corner. The applicants turned to look at him. "He's lying to you!" He pointed dramatically at Satotz whose expression didn't change at all. "He's an impostor! He isn't an examiner. I'm the real examiner."

"An impostor?" Leorio gasped behind Sora. "What's going on?"

"Then who is he?" Hanzo glanced at Satotz.

"Look at this…" The beaten-up man who Sora knew to be an inhabitant of the Swamp dragged another creature for them to see. The creature bore a striking resemblance to Satotz.

"Waah! He looks just like Satotz-san!" Gon noticed.

"It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!"

"A Man-Faced Ape?" Leorio repeated.

"Man-Faced Apes live the taste of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are long and thin, so they're quite weak. That's why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them. He intends to trap every single applicant!" The accusing finger was in the air again.

While Leorio and Hanzo seemed to be ready to believe the lengthy explanation among other applicants, Sora stepped forward.

"Nice story, Mr. beaten-up face." She crossed her arms on her chest and smirked. "But how can we know that doesn't apply on you too? It could be entirely possible that you are the Ape that tries to lure us away from the real examiner. So, what about some proof?"

"Proof? Isn't the corpse of the same species enough for you?"

"Hmm…" The girl lifted and hand against her chin in mock thought and gaze up in the foggy sky. Once she was done she looked at the man again and put her hands now into her pockets. "Nope. How about contacting the Hunters' Association? Fake examiner can't do that. Personally I'm fine with the stalemate. The next Phase examiner might start wondering though where everyone is. Or…"

At that second Sora crouched down though. Three playing cards flew through the space where her head and torso had just been. The girl herself barely even realized the action until the fake examiner fell on the ground and Satotz caught the other three cards.

"Or we can do that…" She muttered while sweatdropping. Of course she had to have been on the line of fire. Behind her Hisoka was shuffling his cards and chuckling to himself.

"I see, I see…" The magician hummed smugly. "That settles it. You're the real one."

Satotz tossed the cards from his hands away. Other applicants were cobsmacked. Especially Hanzo's face was worth of seeing. But Sora didn't smile. The first near-death experience had spooked her quite effectively. If it hadn't been for the instincts engraved on her muscle memory, she would've been dead. But why Hisoka had done the attack anyways while she was on the way? Had he trusted she'd dodge? Or had he been ready to kill her just like that and then launch the next set of cards at the fake?

"_I'll think about this later…"_

"Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay." Hisoka was explaining to the rest of applicants. "Any Hunter, bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack. Or dodge it without seeing it." The yellow eyes turned to glance at Sora who could feel shivers going down her spine. Damn… Did Hisoka know her already? No, she'd definitely not go asking him anything.

"I shall take that as a compliment." Satotz stated calmly. "However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner. And you will be immediately disqualified. Are we clear?"

"Sure."

* * *

Vultures swooped down on the dead fake examiner, making many applicant cringe or gape.

"Nature really can be brutal to watch…" Leorio commented.

"So he was a Man-Faced Ape, as well." Kurapika noted. Sora stood up slowly and stepped closer to them.

"That bastard almost killed me…" She muttered angrily.

"But you dodged it." Killua pointed out.

"I know but it doesn't change the fact he attacked while I was on the way."

"It was an impressive dodge."

"…Thank you."

"He was attempting to confuse the applicants, to lure some of them away." Satotz began walking among the people gathered a top of the hill.

"We can't relax our guard." Killua stated.

"Yeah." Gon nodded.

"And that was an excellent warning to those who doubted the effectiveness of the trickery of the inhabitants of the Swamp." Sora glanced at Leorio who glared back.

"You will be encountering such deception on a regular basis." The examiner stopped to look at the corpse being devoured by the vultures. "I believe that a number of you were fooled into suspecting my identity… Do you understand? If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetlands fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind."

"_Okay, I'm going to stay close to Satotz's heels and not stray off. Leorio, Kurapika and Gon will be fine after all and I don't feel like encountering any of the creatures."_

"Then let us be on our way. Please follow me." The running began again. This time Sora was in the front of the group as the fog was quite think and they could barely see more than two meters in front of them. There were 368 applicants left. The number would drop significantly during the little trip through the Swindler's Swamp.

* * *

**A/N: Done! Thank you for reading! And thank you who already began following this fic. And special thanks for Mystic Milli who's the first reviewer!**

**I'm still open to hear your guesses about Sora's past and also about her abilities, and I'll gladly receive them during the course of story. I'm curious the hear. I'll also reply to your comments here.**

**()**

**Bye! Until next time!**


	3. Gold

**A/N: This took me longer than I thought it's finally done. Yesh! \o/ Tomorrow I'll start working with the next chapter. I dunno will it be the Trick Tower yet or will I just put Sora chill down in the airship. The name of the chapter refers to the Spider Eagle Eggs. At first I planned it to be Murky Grey... Because of the swamp.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Gold: Foggy, soggy swamp of fakes and swindlers**

The marathon continued. And while the soggy marchland wasn't the easiest to run on, Sora still wasn't tired.

"_Damn, Troll-Guide better keep his promise and not to make me a Mary-Sue…"_ The girl thought in irritation. Even though she was curious about her new abilities and such, overkill was still overkill. _"Though in Hunter World overkill is pretty much impossible since everyone here are monsters… Even Gon."_

Sora navigated a bit backwards so she could still see Satotz but didn't stick out like a sore thumb. After the attention from Hisoka just now, she didn't feel like any more. Okay, part of it was her own fault but she… Okay, better not try to make up any excuses…

A crow cawed above them. Sora glanced at it. It was the same one that would try to trick Amori brothers down a cliff. The bird looked quite comical with its mouth open as it flew.

* * *

The fog began thickening as they reached the edge of the forest. Sora could hear some muttering coming from a group of men running behind Hisoka. They were planning on ambushing him. The girl shook her head slightly. How in earth did they think they had any chances against the clown? Especially considering the dangerous intent oozing from him and making Sora's skin crawl even though she wasn't its target.

Killua noted the murderous aura too.

"Gon." The kid with the skateboard said.

"Huh?" The spiky-haired boy looked up.

"Let's move up."

"Okay. We don't want to lose sight of the examiner."

"I'm more concerned with the increasing distance between us and Hisoka. Staying too close to him is dangerous. I can smell it in the air."

"I noted that too." Sora slowed down even more until she was side by side with the two. "I bet he is planning something on those who are planning on ambushing him."

"Smell?" Gon repeated and sniffed the air. "Hmm… I don't think he smells… Leorio! Kurapika! Killua says that we should move up!" The boy called to his two friends who were running quite far on their right and behind.

"Hey… Can't you feel the tension surrounding us?" Killua questioned but the other boy didn't answer.

"Moron! If I had the strength, I'd already be there!" Leorio yelled back.

"Don't worry about us!" Kurapika added.

"What?" The green-clad kid pouted.

"Let's go, Gon." Killua told the boy and picked up speed.

"Ah, wait." Gon run after the white-head. Sora decided to tag along. After all Killua would find his way to the finish on his own just fine.

* * *

"I hear people screaming all around us." Gon commented after they'd run for a while. They had lost sight on the examiner a long time ago.

"Yeah… Satotz-san was right… We have to be alert all the time and doubt anything we see, hear or feel." Sora nodded.

"Let's just stay on our guard." Killua stated.

"I wonder if Leorio and Kurapika are okay…" Gon continued.

"They'll be fine as long as they don't run into Hisoka." Sora mused while internally snorting. They _would_ run into Hisoka but would be fine. Mostly.

A strange feeling made the trio halt their speed and stop. Sora blinked once. Oh god, this was that… That frog! Frog-In-Waiting!

She jumped aside just when the ground sank beneath the feet of the two boys, and landed not so graciously on her stomach.

_**Swiiiiiiing… Bang!**_

The frog's mouth closed with a resounding snap that echoed loudly in the forest. Sora stared at the creature with wide eyes. It was freaking big!

The blonde rolled on her back and sat up slowly as the frog climbed up from its hole on the ground and began lugging heavily along the path the trio had been jogging along previously. The girl just watched it go before getting on her feet and dusting the knees of her pants and the front of her tunic. After a bit of waiting she decided to follow the frog as it wasn't hard when its steps echoed in the forest as much as closing its mouth.

* * *

It took five minutes or so until the frog finally stopped. Sora did so too and watched warily as the amphibious turned violet before puking Killua and Gon out along with the rest of its stomach contents. As the frog lugged away, the girl jogged a bit closer.

"Hey, guys… Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Gon grinned nervously. "Guess he didn't like the taste of us."

"It was this." Killua showed one of the juice cans he'd gotten from Tonpa. Apparently the man had his uses…

"That was from Tonpa-san! I guess he saved us." And yet another point to that man's trust bank. Sora didn't quite anime-fall at the remark.

"Well, I could have escaped." Killua tossed the can away.

"Sure you have." Sora chuckled after regaining her composure.

"I would!"

"Yeah… yeah…" It was fun to rile the boy up.

"I'm still worried about Leorio and Kurapika." Gon noted suddenly. Killua got up silently.

"Forget about them. Let's get a move on. We can still catch up to the examiner." Okay… That was immature. The boy began running and Gon followed him for a couple of steps before stopping. He seemed to be determined to go and find Kurapika and Leorio. Sora placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"If you are worried, go ahead." She told the boy. "I'll keep an eye on Killua then."

"Okay." The boy with a backpack and fishing pole run off while Sora ran after the other kid.

* * *

"Yosh. We've caught up to the main group, Gon." Killua stated once they could see a mass of people running past them. When he didn't hear a response from the boy he addressed to, he turned to look around. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Gon?" Sora repeated. "He went to find Kurapika-kun and Leorio…-kun." The girl grinned slightly. "Don't worry, he's strong and will surely make it to the end." Even though Hisoka will almost strangle him.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Why do you keep doubting me?"

"Because it's fun?"

The blonde sighed. "Fine, be my guest. Come on though. Let's catch up with those guys."

"Don't boss me around!" The boy retorted immediately, jogging after the older girl.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"But I'm not."

"Are too."

"Stop being a kid and follow me." Sora finally snapped at Killua who stopped to stare at her.

"What…?"

"That's bossing. I gave you an example." She shrugged, not looking if the boy came along.

"_Yep, be cute. Be a protagonist. Be a Zoldyck. Be super-deadly assassin. But if you think I'm starting to fangirl over you… you are wrong. Right now you are a kid among others."_

* * *

They made it to the place where the Phase Two of the exam was supposed to be held. Killua noted immediately that Gon wasn't at the place yet. Sora in the other hand sat down on a fallen tree trunk. Her legs had started to feel sore a while back. But she still hadn't broken any sweat.

"Ahh… So nice to sit down…" The girl sighed contentedly. She ran a hand through her hair and tied her ponytail again. It was nice to be out of that swamp and even nicer was the fact the fog had faded.

Since there was some time left, Sora decided to go through her stuff once again and maybe find out something else about herself. One of those objects was her cellphone that she dug from her pocket. She scrolled through the messages she had sent recently but couldn't make to whom she'd sent them. They all seemed to be some sort of nicknames. But what caught the girl's attention was the most recent message that was sent was to…

"Nii-san?" Sora read aloud. She had a big brother? Who? Was it some canon character? Or some completely new and on the background? Or just an OC?

_-Made it to the Exam. Hell of a headache. Literally. I'll text more later._ She had written. Then there was the reply.

_-Good luck, Sora. We all are waiting for the news when the Exam is over. I hope you have fun._

"'We all'… Who all does that mean?" The girl mumbled. The messages assured only one thing. She had people to wait for her but she had no idea who they were. And she was definitely not going to meet up with them without having at least inkling. Besides she didn't want to worry those people about her amnesia.

"I guess I have to figure this all during the time…" Sora pocketed her phone and while doing that, she fingers brushed something thin and metallic. Fishing the item out, the girl found a simple necklace. It was made of silver and had a small light blue stone hanging from it. Blue Topaz.

"Mine… I guess." She opened the lock and put the necklace around her neck. When she was withdrawing her hands, everything went white and fuzzy, like an old-fashioned film.

* * *

_Sora was little. Very little. She was standing on a chair while someone brushed her hair. It felt nice. It felt safe. The house where was quite small but it didn't bother her. It was her home._

"_Alright, Sora-chan. It's all done now." A female voice said behind her as she stopped brushing. Sora looked up and turned around a bit. The woman was beautiful and had similar hair than she did: blonde and slightly wavy. It was tied on a knot though with only few strands hanging on the sides of her face._

"_Thank you, mama!" Little Sora smiled. "Ah, pretty!"_

_A little and chubby hand reached for the necklace the woman – her mother – was wearing. It was the same necklace she'd just put on._

"_Do you want it?" The girl's mother asked with a gentle smile and Sora nodded eagerly. "Alright."_

_The necklace was put on and the little girl beamed. The woman was smiling too._

"_Go play with your brother now."_

"_Okay." Sora hopped off the chair and run towards the front door which was open. "Nii-san!"_

_A boy, a bit older than her, looked up from something he'd been doing and grinned. "Sora!"_

_He waved her closer and the little girl dashed to hug him. She could only see a glimpse of the messy blond hair and glinting green eyes, same than hers, but not the exact features of the face._

* * *

Sora drew a shuddering breath when she opened her eyes again. She was still sitting on the tree trunk. There was a bit more people around but otherwise nothing had changed. Nothing.

"Lie… That idyll was a lie…" The girl mumbled, tears appearing in her eyes. "She died a week later…"

She blinked, startled, and wiped the tears away hastily. What had made her feel like this? She didn't actually remember her mother dying… She just… She just knew it happening.

"_Even a small piece of puzzle is important…"_

* * *

Gon and Kurapika made it to the finish. They found Leorio sitting against a tree with his face beaten up but otherwise in a relatively good condition. The poor man didn't remember anything about his encounter with Hisoka though. It was good to him and the duo decided not to tell what happened either. Killua met up with the group and was quite surprised after finding out how Gon had followed the smell of Leorio's cologne.

"Excellent work, everyone." Satotz called from the giant gates. "Phase Two of the exam will occur here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you." And the examiner began marching back towards the swamp.

"_To observe the next phase and them inform the chairman when Menchi violates the rules…"_ Sora thought as she got on her feet.

The giant gates slid to the sides, allowing the applicants to enter the large yard with multiple kitchen spots.

"Will all applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" Menchi called from her sofa which was placed in front of the house by the end of the yard, and her partner Buhara. "Welcome. I'm Menchi, the Second Phase examiner." She introduced herself as the applicants made their way on the yard.

"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner." The large man sitting behind the sofa said. He must have looked quite intimidating since the examinees were looking at him and Menchi warily. Well, considering Satotz's challenge that at first had seemed very easy, they had a reason to. The moment however, was ruined by Buhara's stomach.

"You must be hungry." Menchi looked up at her partner.

"I'm starving…" The man whined.

"There you have it." The turquoise haired woman got on her feet. "Phase Two will involve cooking!"

People were ready to retort and question and even laugh at the challenge. It didn't exactly help their cause and Sora couldn't help but snort at their behavior. Well, the instruction were still given.

"The required ingredient is pork." Buhara told them. "You're free to use meat from any species of Biska Forest pigs. You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious."

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste." Menchi added. "Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking. Got it? When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end."

"_Yeah, literally since she won't let anyone pass…"_ Sora deadpanned.

"Then, the exam's Second Phase begins now!" Buhara slammed his palm against his stomach, making a sound like a cong. And they all were off.

* * *

The group scattered around to look for the required ingredient in the forest. Sora decided to stick close to the four main characters this time. Alone she had no means finding the pigs.

"No wait… I don't want to get stampeded." the girl stopped right when Gon jumped to slide down the grassy hill. The other three followed him. It looked fun. "Screw it…"

The blonde jumped after the quartet and slid quickly by them. Luckily she didn't bump into Kurapika but stopped next to Gon.

"What was that about, Gon?!" Killua asked the other boy angrily.

"Found them." The green-clad kid merely replied. They all turned to look at the huge pigs that were munching bones. Sora gulped nervously. The pigs were a bit too close to comfort.

"Uh… They're chewing bones." Leorio pointed out the obvious.

"Don't tell me…" Kurapika began. One of the pigs looked straight at them and the bone it was chewing, snapped in half. "They're carnivores?"

"I don't know about you guys but I'm out of here." Sora jumped on her feet right when the pig let out a 'toot' sound with smoke coming from its nostrils. Was that a battle cry? Most likely since the horde of pigs charged at the five of them. So they ran.

On the way they met with other applicants who got punched on the back by the pigs.

"These pigs are crazy!" Leorio yelled.

"Now you realized?!" Sora yelled back. She spared a glance behind them. Yep, the pigs were there. "This is getting nowhere…" The girl muttered as she noticed Todo and Hanzo powerless against the pigs. She took her staff and jumped to a nearest tree. From her position, hanging from a branch with her left hand while her staff was in the right hand, she could see how Gon defeated one of the pigs.

"Could their foreheads be their weak points?" Killua noted with a smile.

"At least I'm going with that one." The blonde girl mused jumping forward by pushing herself off the tree. One of the pigs was just running to her direction. The female twisted her body in the air until she faced the same direction than the pig and… "Hiyaaah!" Hit the carnivorous creature in the middle of its forehead. The mammal fainted immediately. "Hey, it works!" Sora yelled in glee, landing a top of her pig.

"_And I learn all the time more about my abilities…"_ She thought with a smile. Other applicants got the trick too and the whole cattle was caught.

* * *

They all made their way back to the cooking point and the grills were set on fire… Not quite. About everyone just began roasting the pig just like that. Sora in the other hand…

"_What the hell am I supposed to do with this? I've never prepared a pig or any other animal since the beginning. Well, I know how to gut a fish but that's all!"_ She stared at the meaty animal that she was supposed to prepare.

"Maybe I should just do what the others have done… Fail. And then I could try my best in the redo Second Phase…" She muttered quietly so no one could hear. The girl impaled the pig and put it on fire. She had turned it over and over only a few times when…

"Wha-?" Sora ducked and turned her back on her grill while covering her ears.

_**Booom!**_

The whole contradiction was almost blown up. At least the flames consumed her pig completely for a second before dying down. And when Sora dared to peek, there was nothing left on the pig.

"Hee? Why I got the faulty grill?" She could only ask. The girl could feel people staring at her. Which irked her a lot. "Stop staring at me! It wasn't my fault!"

The other applicants began presenting their dishes to Menchi and Buhara. The man accepted them immediately while the young woman mercilessly made everyone fail. Including Sora who couldn't find a new pig from the forest.

"No dish, no pass." Mechi simply shrugged before the girl could even say anything.

"I kind of figured that…" The blonde gritted her teeth as the other applicants rose to protest Menchi's decision to let absolutely zero people pass. The loudest one to protest was Todo, the wrestler who wanted to be a Black-List Hunter. He destroyed part of his kitchen point and got into a proper spat with Menchi. Sora followed it all in a slight boredom and sat down to lean against the remnants of her grill while hiding a yawn behind her hand. All she could do was to wait for Netero to arrive and hope she'd do better at the Mountain Split-in-Half.

* * *

Todo flew through the air and hit one of the towers of the gate of the yard.

"Buhara, don't interfere." Menchi sighed.

"Well… If I hadn't intervened, you'd have killed him, right?" The large man responded.

"Probably." The turquoise haired female hunter got up from her sofa, two pairs of cooking knives in her hands. "Let me clarify this." She began as she ascended the stairs down to the yard and approached the applicants. "We frequently venture into the dens of ferocious beasts, searching for ingredients. Every Hunter knows some form of martial art." The knives flew in the air and the woman began juggling them skillfully while explaining. "You lack focus and the willingness to experiment. That alone disqualifies you from becoming Hunters!"

The announcement was met with a stunned silence. Hisoka readied a playing card, Jack of Hearts, with the intent to kill.

"_**That said it would be excessive to fail every single applicant."**_ Chairman Netero's amplified voice said above their heads. Everyone, including Sora, turned their gaze skywards. An airship bearing the logo of the Hunters' Association was floating above them. People barely managed to make a connection between the logo and the fact it was someone from the association had just spoken when the old man already landed on the ground, making dust and pieces of rock fly everywhere. Sora took cover behind her grill.

The dust settled down and the Chairman of the Hunters' Association walked towards Menchi in his geta-shoes. _Clack, clack, clack…_

"The Chairman of the Selection Committee." Menchi answered the applicants' inquires about the old man's identity. "He's in charge of the Hunter Exam… Netero-kaichou."

"Well, I work behind the scenes." Netero smiled. "I only take action when there's an issue, like now. So, Menchi-kun…"

"Yes, sir."

"You failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?"

"_Dirty old man… Staring at Menchi's chest…"_ Sora glared briefly as she finally got on her feet.

"No, sir… I lost my cool when one of the candidates insulted Gourmet Hunters. And I made the exam harder than necessary."

"_Plus Hisoka's killing aura made her skittish…"_

"In other words, you're aware that this exam was unacceptable." Netero stated.

"Yes, sir. When cooking is involved, I lose control. I'm unqualified to be an examiner. I'll resign as an examiner so please redo the Second Phase!" Menchi announced.

"But it would be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice." The old man mused.

"I apologize…"

"Very well. How about this? I'd like you to continued serving as an examiner but you must also participate in the new test you propose. Is that acceptable? I'm certain that will help the applicants to accept the results."

"_I see what you did there, Netero…"_ Sora smirked smugly, crossing her arms on her chest. _"Making Menchi show us what she actually does for work and thus making us accept the Gourmet Hunters as 'real' Hunters…"_

"That's true…" Apparently Menchi got it too. "Then the new challenge will be boiled eggs!"

Doubtful murmuring arose once again but this time the female Gourmet Hunter ignored it.

"Chairman, can you take us to Mountain Split-in-Half in your airship?"

"Mountain Split-in-Half? I see what you're doing. Certainly I can."

* * *

They made it to the mountain which indeed had a canyon running through it neatly in the middle, making it look like it had been cut in half with a kitchen knife. The applicants gathered near the edge behind Menchi and looked down below.

"Now, everyone… Look down there."

"Wh-What it that?" Someone, probably Hanzo, asked as they saw a criss-crossing strings about ten meters below them.

"A Spider Eagle's web."

"They build webs down there?" Gon asked. A strong gust of wind blew upwards, right at their faces. Todo backed down immediately, falling on his butt. Sora glanced at him. Did he have a fear of heights or something?

"Look below the web." Menchi continued instructing.

"Those are…"

"Those are Spider Eagle eggs."

"Spider Eagles build their webs in deep ravines to protect their eggs from predators." Netero continued the explanation. "This make their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain. The eggs are also known as 'Dream Eggs'."

"W-Wait a minute…" Todo began protesting. "You don't mean we…"

"I sure do." Menchi told the man and walked to the edge of the canyon. She jumped down elegantly and grabbed one of the web strings. She spun around it two times, slowing down her speed, before stopping and looking down. She was about directly above one of the egg nests.

Everyone was peering down. Sora was on her knees right next to Killua and Kurapika. She could see the examiner's shoulders relaxing slightly as the woman began waiting for the next gust of wind.

"Even if she can grab some eggs, how will she climb back up?" Leorio was once again voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Wait for it, Leorio-kun… There's gotta be some trick…" Sora told the 'teen'. "There was a trick with the pigs so there's gotta be a trick with these eggs too…"

Menchi let go. Todo recoiled even further from the edge. The woman fell down and down, grabbed one of the eggs and continued falling into the mist at the bottom of the canyon.

"Is she trying to kill herself?" Leorio exclaimed. Sora's way of addressing him had completely gone past his ears.

"No, she's not." Kurapika stated.

"Just wait for it…" Sora smiled. And right on cue the wind blew up again, carrying Menchi back to the level of her audience.

"Whoa!" Gon smiled widely.

"That looks fun…" Killua mused.

"This ravine has updrafts that help the hatched chicks fly up to the web." Netero told them all. Menchi landed elegantly behind them.

"There. Now I just need to boil the egg." She told the applicants.

"Y-You must be joking. No reasonable person would jump down there…" Todo stuttered. Yep, definitely a fear of heights.

"I've been waiting for this!" Gon announced, leaving his backpack on the edge. He, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio jumped down.

"Ah, wait!" Sora shouted. Too late though… "Idiots…"

The girl sighed and took of her bag too, leaving only her staff on her back. She jumped after them as did several other applicants. But unlike them, she grabbed the string of the web above the other one.

"You realize that the next updraft won't come for a while!" She called down below at them.

"How'd you know that?!" Leorio yelled back as one of the applicants grew impatient and fell to his death. Only Gon's words had stopped the future doctor from following the poor and idiotic man.

"It's called common sense." The girl rolled her eyes.

"When's the next one?" Leorio asked Gon and others then.

"Wait." The spiky-haired boy closed his eyes and began listening and feeling the air around them.

_**Scriiintch**_

The web lurched downwards.

"What?"

"The web won't hold us all!" Kurapika realized.

"And that's also something called common sense…" Sora muttered.

"Gon, not yet?" Killua asked calmly. The other boy remained quiet and concentrated. The web string stretched more. More people let go and fell to their deaths.

"It's gonna snap!" Leorio yelled. It was Sora's cue. She let go a fraction of a second before Gon yelled:

"Now!"

Everyone let go. Everyone got their eggs. Everyone fell into the mist. The updraft came just in time to carry everyone back up. Netero laughed merrily at their joyful expressions while Menchi enquired the applicants who'd stayed up if they wanted a try too. They didn't.

* * *

The eggs were boiled in a large pot of water. When Sora got her egg, she carefully took a bite and immediately froze. It tasted heavenly! The girl took another bite. Yes, a wonderful taste. No words were enough to describe it. The yolk of the eggs was pure gold!

"Delicious…" She whispered with a gentle look on her face and turned to look at the sunset far behind her. The girl sat on the edge of the canyon and continued eating slowly.

"_Mum… Dad… I hope your lives are favorable to you. I'll try my best here too and find Simon too. But before that I'm going to find out my past here. I think as an Information Hunter I'll have better shots in it… And of course this time I'll remember to smile too…"_

* * *

**A/N: Alright, here it was. I hope you liked it. :) Sora got a first flashback conserning her past and I can tell you, there'll be more of those. And as usual, I'll be open to hear your guesses for her past and suggestions for a possible pairing. (dunno if I'll ever actually write it though...)**

**Replies to reviews:**

**-TheNewBlueMoon:  
Ch1. Thank you very much. I'm glad you like this... and the way Sara's family died.  
Ch2. Alright, but if you have anything in mind, I'll gladly listen.**

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Thank you :)**

**-fishy7073:  
Here we are. The next chapter came!**

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**The next chapter will come... During this week. Depends on how much time I have to actually write. But until then, bye! \o**


	4. Inky Blue

**A/N: Okay... Sorry, this took a while. I decided to catch up with One Piece(about two years of it) and read and read and read fics. But now I'm back with this chapter. I hope you like this.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Inky blue: All aboard!**

They made their way to the giant airship. Once there, Beans explained them what was about to happen. Basically he just told them to relax before the Third Phase of the exam. And that's exactly what Sora was about to do. She'd take a nice relaxing shower and then go to sleep. Though following Gon and Killua to try to get the ball from Netero, she'd rather not. Eventually she'd be asked to join anyways and since she had no idea of the extent of her abilities, it would be better not to. And dealing with angry Killua afterwards was not on her do-to list either.

"Okay, Gon! Let's explore the airship!" Killua announced as soon as Beans stopped talking.

"Yeah!" The spiky-haired boy nodded and the two dashed out of the room.

"How can they have so much energy?" Leorio wondered aloud. "I'm hitting the sack."

"You can say that again." Kurapika agreed.

"Same here." Sora sighed. "I'll just eat something light and take a refreshing shower… And then I'll go take a relaxing sleep." The girl stretched her arms above her head at the trio made their way to the door too. "After all we have eleven hours to spare now."

"However, I do have one concern." Kurapika stated seriously then.

"Hmm? What is it?" Leorio asked immedietaly.

"How many more phases are there?"

"Oh… They've never mentioned that, have they?" The young doctor-to-be realized.

"On average, there are five to six phases." Tonpa appeared behind them. Sora had to bit back a growl but had no qualms at glaring the short man.

"Which means we still have three or four to go…" Leorio confirmed.

"All more reason to rest now." Kurapika stated.

"But you should be careful." Tonpa continued, somehow managing to ignore Sora's deathglare. "The secretary only told us when we'll arrive at our destination. It's possible that the third exam phase could take place on this airship itself. And it doesn't necessarily mean we'll be contacted at 8 AM."

"Huh? Are you serious?" Leorio took the bait immediately.

"Hmm, that does make sense…" Kurapika mused.

"_Not you too…"_ Sora sighed internally.

"You might wake up to discover that the exam has already ended. If you plan to make it to the next phase, don't let yourself relax on this airship." Tonpa told them.

"Bullshit…" Sora muttered, leaving the room. She really didn't want to listen to that rookie-crusher a moment longer. If she were lucky, this would be the last time.

"_Three more phases to go…"_ The girl yawned. _"This'll sure be interesting."_

* * *

The food in the dining hall was delicious. Sora tasted a variety of wonderful and different flavors and enjoyed immensely of them.

"Delicious…" She smiled and took another fork-full of the risotto she had on her plate. Yep, truly wonderful dish.

While eating, the blonde made her way along the corridor surrounding the ship. From there she had a good view on the outside. To see the inky blue sky and the cities below glistening like a patchwork made of diamonds. She sat on the windowsill and smiled at the view. The last time when she'd seen something even remotely resembling that, was…

Was during one of those times when she and her family were coming back from their holiday on an evening flight.

"And to think I died on a flight. It's surprising I don't have fear of flying now…" Sora chuckled while gazing outside. Hearing to pairs of footsteps, she looked up right in time to see Killua to dash to the same window and look outside too.

"Whoa, amazing! Look, Gon!" The white-haired boy exclaimed.

"Hmm? What is it?" The green-clad boy came to his friend's side. "Whoa! It's like the ground is covered in jewels!"

"Yeah!"

"It's really pretty indeed." Sora smiled fondly at the kids and set aside her empty plate.

"Ah, Sora-san!" Gon looked up suddenly.

"Hm? What is it, Gon-kun?" The girl tilted her head.

"I didn't notice you there." The boy grinned sheepishly.

"It's alright."

* * *

"Hey, I was wondering…" Gon began after a while.

"Hmm?" Killua hummed, indicating that he was listening. They both were leaning against the windowsill and looking the scenery slowly passing by. Sora was still sitting on their left and leaning her cheek against the cool glass.

"Where are your mum and dad?"

"Hmm… They're alive." The other boy replied after a pause. "Probably." He added.

"What do they do?"

"They're assassins."

"Huh? Both of them?" Gon turned to look at the white-haired boy. Sora also turned her gaze to the duo but otherwise didn't move in any way. Killua in the other hand bursted out laughing at Gon's reaction.

"That's your first reaction? You really are a riot!"

"Huh?"

Killua sat down on the bench behind them and Gon followed the suit.

"You're the first person who's ever responded seriously." The chibi-assassin told them with a smile.

"Well, you're telling the truth, right?" Was the only thing Gon could say as an explanation.

"What makes you think that?"

"It's just a hunch."

"That's weird…" Killua slumped to lean his arms on the windowsill and his head on his arms. "People only like me because they can't ever tell whether I'm serious. I'm from a family of assassins. So they're all assassins. And my family has really high hopes for me. But I can't stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?"

"No one…" Sora mused quietly.

"When I told them I wanted to decide my own future, they all snapped! My mother had tears streaming down her face, as she told me I have the potential to be a top assassin. Horrible parents, right? It's natural their kid would go bad."

Gon and Sora laughed at the way Killua was telling the story.

"We ended up fightling. So I stabbed my mother in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away from home. I'm sure they're out for blood now." The kid-assassin continued. "But if they find me, I'll send them packing. When I become a Hunter, I'll start by capturing my family. I'm sure they're worth some hefty bounties…" Sparkles appeared around him while the boy was wearing a blissful expression.

Sora snorted. Sure, sure… Killua might be strong compared to other people but he still was one of the weakest among his family. Besides physical strength is nothing compared to mental one. Illumi would prove it to the boy.

"Hey, how about you, Sora-san?" Gon looked up at the girl suddenly. "What is your family like?"

"I…" Sora blinked once before leaning her chin against her palm. Should she tell them? Maybe… They could be helpful. And Sora knew they were trustworthy.

"Good question…" She muttered. The two boys blinked.

"What do you mean?" Killua frowned.

"The thing is… I don't know much about my family." The blonde teen began. "I suffer from amnesia you see. But I do know I have an older brother… and that I used to have a mother who died due an illness… and that I have people who care about me but don't know that I have amnesia."

"Is that so…?" Gon tilted his head sadly. "So you don't even know who those people are?"

"No. Ever since I woke up before the First Phase I've been trying to gather scraps of my past."

"Ever since…" Killua trailed off as his eyes widened in realization. "Hey, you don't mean that the head ache you had-…"

"Yeah. I figured it was because of some sort of accident when coming to the exam…" Sora shrugged. This was going better than she thought. The both boys believed her. Well, she wasn't lying so neither of them had any reason not to trust her.

"Why are you telling us this?" The young assassin asked then.

"Well, you asked. And I answered. I hope to become an information hunter now partly because I think that'll help me to figure out who I am. Besides there's no way you could use this information against me as apparently this is the first time meeting with you."

"I see…" Gon mused. The trio continued chatting for a moment more when…

Sora's head snapped up and she looked behind her over her right shoulder. Gon and Killua turned to look into the same direction too. They saw nothing. While Gon didn't really comment the situation, Killua was obviously on edge now. Apparently as an assassin he was used to sensing murderous intent like proved on the swamp in Hisoka's case. Sora in the other hand…

"What the hell was that…" The girl whispered, hugging herself tightly. She'd been so deep into conversation that she'd forgotten the little stunt Netero just pulled. That sensation of aura made her skin crawl and something was telling her not to let the old man know about her situation with her memory.

_Clap clap clap…_

"Something wrong?" The chairman asked now on their left as he approached. He smiled in his grandfatherly way only to be met with an angry, a confused and a spooked expression belonging to Killua, Gon and Sora respectively.

"Ah, Netero-san…" Gon began. "Did you see anyone coming from that side?" The green-clad kid pointed the direction the murderous intent had come from.

"No." The old man replied while Sora turned to glare him too. She slowly straightened her arms and took her plate before hopping off the window sill.

"You're pretty fast for an old man." Killua stated meanwhile.

"That little trick? I barely moved." The chairman chuckled, making the child-assassin in front of him glare at him. The man looked back without blinking.

"What do you want? You don't have to do anything until the last phase, right?" The white-haired boy questioned. Gon kept glancing from one person to other while Sora stood quietly behind Killua and had a blank face now.

"No need to be so unkind. I got bored, and was looking for some companions." Netero replied. "By the way, I meant to ask the three of you any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Examination?"

"Uh-huh! It's fun!" Gon nodded eagerly. "And there haven't been any of the written exams I was dreading."

"It's been alright this far. I'm thankful the second phase was redone since I got a faulty grill." Sora shrugged.

"I'm disappointed." Killua stated. "I expected the exam to be far more difficult. I assume the next phase will be more entertaining?"

"Well, now… I wouldn't know about that." Netero glanced at the ceiling.

_Liar…_ Sora thought while Killua turned on his heels. The girl proceeded to make a step forward in order to walk past Netero and head towards the dining room to get rid of her plate. Then she'd finally take the shower and sleep.

"Let's go, Gon!" The kid called to his friend.

"Now wait just a moment." Netero requested. Killua stopped and Gon looked up at the old man. "Would you care to play a game with me?"

"A game?" The spiky-hair repeated.

"If you're able to defeat me, I shall let you be Hunters!"

"Really? I'll play!" Gon was in immediately. Killua in the other hand turned around slowly.

"How about it, eh?" Netero smiled.

"I'll pass. I rather use these meager hours in relaxing and gathering my strength. Who knows what horrors we'll face in the next phase." Sora waved her hand dismissively and walked past the chairman. "Night, kids. Night, Netero-san."

"Good night, Sora-san!" Gon wished back while the other two continued their staring contest. By the time Sora was out of sight, she finally heard Killua accepting the challenge. The girl smiled. Yep, everything was going as it was supposed to.

* * *

After returning her plate, Sora made her was to the bathrooms which were relatively close to the rooms used for sleeping. About everyone was already asleep so the girl could shower in peace. She folded her clothes neatly on a bench outside her stall and stepped under the relaxingly warm water.

"Haa…" The teen closed her eyes and let the water just run over her head, drenching her hair and rest of her body completely before beginning to scrubbing herself.

Once clean, Sora put on her clothes and finally decided to take a good look on what she was actually wearing. It was something like Kurapika had, she noted. A training outfit of quite light of color, very light violet to be exact. Even her shoes were similar to the Kurta's. It was surprising how comfortable and easy it was to run in them. Thankfully she didn't have the weird cape-poncho-thing.

"Yep, my clothes are just fine." The girl mused and took her backpack from the bench. She threw it on her back and exited the room while drying her hair into a towel.

* * *

She found the room where Kurapika and Leorio were sleeping and settled against the wall next to them. Before pulling the blanket provided by the Hunters Association, Sora decided to take a look on her phone in the case someone had tried to contact her. Any clue about her past was an important one.

"_Has the headache passed yet?"_ Had been sent from one of the people. It wasn't from her 'nii-san' and since she hadn't informed previously anyone else about it, the girl could only assume that this person was either with her brother or then had otherwise talked with him.

"_It's fine now. Thank you for asking. The third phase of exam begins tomorrow so I have to sleep now. Good night."_ Sora texted back. A moment later the person replied.

"_Good night, Sora-chan."_

"I wonder who she is…" Sora muttered, while looking at the sender's ID: 'Noda-baa'. One thought floated to her mind but she dismissed it quickly. The fatigue was making her imagine the most silly things.

* * *

_Someone was shaking her shoulder. Sora rolled on her side, mumbling incoherently. The person shook her shoulder again._

"_C'mon, Sora… Wake up. We gotta go…" A young boy's voice whispered with an urgent edge in his voice. Sora opened her eyes blearily._

"_Nii-san?"_

"_Yeah, come now." The duvet was pushed away and the little girl was hoisted up carefully. Sora blinked a couple of times in the shadowed room where her brother was moving silently like a ghost around. He was fully dressed and had a backpack on. The boy tossed a couple of articles of clothing to her, telling her to change into them. Now she was fully awake. Something was going on._

"_What's going on?" Sora whispered when changing her pajama shirt into a normal long-sleeved white one._

"_Stay here and quiet. I'll be right back." The boy smiled and ruffled the girl's head. He dropped the backpack on the floor and sneaked into a room next to theirs. Because of the shadows, Sora could really see his eyes and what he was actually thinking. But the little girl didn't bother herself with it. Just changed into white pants and violet tunic. She trusted her brother._

_The girl was putting on her mother's necklace right when the older boy came back, taking her hand and the backpack and leading her out of the room and out of the house. The village was quiet and the only light was the full moon shining above the treetops._

"_Nii-san?" The first time Sora spoke again was when they were out of the village, having crawled through a hole in the fence surrounding it, far away. "What happened to father?"_

_The slight tensing of the boy's shoulders was the only indication that something had indeed happened but he kept walking forward and did not look at the girl._

"_He is still there… That's why we are leaving."_

"_Okay."_

"_I'll make sure that nothing will ever hurt you again."_

"_Okay." The forest was silent around them. It didn't scare either of them though. They liked the forest. And nii-san was strong. Much stronger than any of the other kids in the village. Sora smiled. She liked adventure. And this would be her very first one._

* * *

Sora opened her eyes slowly. That one dream… flashback from her past had brought forward more information to her head. Since her mother had died, her father had become a drunkard and started abusing her and her brother. No one in the village knew it. When they tried to tell the elders, they just dismissed their bruises as a result of games of two lively children. That went on for two years or so before she was dragged out of the house in the middle of the night by her brother.

"But what happened to our father then…" Sora muttered sleepily before falling asleep again. She didn't even notice that she had shifted in her sleep so she was now lying on her back, her head resting on Kurapika's lap.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, you got another flashback. I think I'll try to give you one per chapter... Yeah, I'll try. But do you have any guesses or suggestions yet for Sora's past. I'm just dying to know what you have in your minds. And also what pairings you are thinking. I know at the moment Kurapika seems the most likely canditate but I haven't actually decided anything definite.**

**By the way. I made the 'What is your Nen type?' -test with... was it 60 questions? ...anyways, I got the result of Specialist (69%) but I have a very vague idea what I want Sora to do with it. Could you throw me some ideas so I can get some inspiration. Oh, and if interested the second highest types were Manipulator and Emitter(60%).**

**Just send me anything, I listen gladly.**

**Review Replies:**

**-TheNewBlueMoon:  
Thank you very much. I hope you like this chapter too.**

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**Bye, until next time!**


	5. Umbra

**A/N: Okay, here we are again. I got this chapter done. It was a pain I tell you. Thank you for the faves and subscriptions. They made me happy. Thank you also the review(1) I received.**

**I think I should make some sort of cover for this story but at the moment I have no idea what it could be. I should probably also draw some pics of Sora's outfits...**

* * *

**Chapter 5  
Umbra: Trick Tower**

The morning dawned eventually as the airship approached its destination: the Trick Tower. The applicants woke up from their rest. Some early, some later. Sora herself was poked away from dreamland by someone who was obviously having too much fun with it. The girl swatted the hand away before sitting up.

Wait… Sitting up? Hadn't she fallen asleep against the wall _while_ _sitting up_? But when she'd woken up in the middle of the night she'd been lying down. Whaaaat was going on?

A poke on her back alerted Sora back to the reality. She turned around slowly to see Leorio's grinning face and Kurapika… still asleep. Considering the place the girl was sitting currently and the gleeful expression he future doctor had…

"Don't tell me…"

"Yep. You were using Kurapika's legs as a pillow." Leorio smiled. I decided to wake you up and save Kurapika from a possible mortification." Sora really wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

"I see…" The girl stated calmly. "I suppose I should thank you then. Next time though… please find some other way to wake me up."

"You mean you are going to do that again?"

"No. I meant waking me up in general. In the case if there would ever be the need. I usually wake up on my own quite well."

"Why did you do that by the way?" Leorio leaned her head against his upturned palm and eyed the girl curiously. He get a glare as an answer.

"I didn't do it on purpose if that's what you are asking, Leorio-_kun_."

"Hey, I'm older than you!"

"Mere ten days so it doesn't count."

"I'm still older!"

"But apparently I'm more mature."

"Shut up…"

That was a new voice. Sora and Leorio turned to look at the person sitting between them. Kurapika had woken up.

"Are we in our destination yet?" The Kurta yawned.

"No. It's only quarter to eight." Leorio answered.

"I see." It seemed that the boy was still only half-awake.

"Hey guys, let's go and see if there's any breakfast. Who knows when is the next time we get to eat." Sora got on her feet and took her bag. The other two followed the suit, the blonde with his eyes half-open and rubbing them, and the brunette with a smug smile on his face. The girl shot him a warning glare which was just enough to make him drop the smile. He wouldn't dare to go against that very clear warning he received. The young man nodded with a slight gulp.

* * *

When they airship finally stopped, the trio met up with Gon and Killua and made their way out with the rest of the participants.

"What is this place? There's nothing here." Someone was muttering as they observed their surrounding atop of the Trick Tower.

"Ahem." Beans got their attention. "Everyone, the exam's Third Phase will begin here, at the top of Trick Tower.

"Trick Tower?"

"To pass this Phase, you must reach the tower's base alive. The timelimet is seventy-two hours." The bean-looking man… creature… something… explained.

"That's three full days…" Sora mused.

"With that, we will now begin the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

* * *

"_**Best luck to everyone!"**_ Beans wished to them via a loudspeaker as the airship sailed away. Gon peeked over the edge of the tower.

"Are we supposed to climb down?" Leorio asked, clutching his briefcase against his chest as he and the rest of their little group peeked down too.

"That would be a suicide…" Kurapika said. Someone chuckled behind them.

"Maybe for a normal person." That person said, drawing their attention. His applicant number was 86. He was the rock climber.

"But a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem." The man told them as he began his descent.

"Wow…" Killua breathed.

"He's going down pretty fast." Gon noted.

"…I rather not watch this. There's no way anyone would survive that." Sora got up and walked only a couple of steps when…

"Stop! Stop it!" The rock climber's screams climbed up the tower and reached their ears. "Help!"

Weird pinkish creatures flew over their heads after one of them had captured the poor applicant into its mouth.

"G-Guess we can't climb down the side…" Leorio gulped.

"Yeah." Kurapika agreed.

"Say, Sora…" Killua had appeared by the girl's side. Sora glanced at him and then the rest of the group who were still by the edge. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" The girl arched her eyebrows.

"That he wouldn't survive." The young assassin stated.

"I didn't…"

"Don't lie to me. You were looking sick since the moment he spoke."

"Alright…" Sora sighed. "I… I guess you could call it my…"

* * *

"_Sixth sense." A book was snapped shut and placed beside the speaker. Sora looked up from her book._

"_Sixth sense?" The eleven-year-old girl repeated._

"_Yes. That strong intuition of yours. It's like a sixth sense, isn't it?" The person behind her continued._

"_I dunno…" Sora shrugged and stretched her legs forward and shifted a bit so she could lean more comfortably against her fellow bookworm's side. "Wouldn't Nen be the sixth sense?"_

"_What makes you think so?" There was amusement in the voice now._

"_Because essentially every single person in this world is capable of using Nen if trained right. And Nen can be used in many ways. With En you can sense people around you even when you can't see them, with Gyo you can see the Nen used, not to mention the other uses one can find for their own Nen type. And my… hunches are not related to Nen, right?"_

"_No, they aren't. You don't get a feeling that something might happen. You just know something will happen and act or say thing according to that. But it isn't fortunetelling either. If it were you'd be able to avoid those events before they happen if you wanted to but the time between your feeling and the event happening is too short. And in the other hand Nen isn't really a sense. It is an ability that has to be learnt and that can be used to strengthen one's other senses." Came the reply._

"_But-…" A pout appeared on the girl's face._

"_Besides, doesn't sixth sense sound better than seventh sense?"_

"_Ah, that's right."_

_The person just chuckled. "Keep that innocence of yours. It's a rare sight nowadays."_

"_Nee… ****-niisan… What are you reading?" Sora scrambled on her feet and tried to reach the book that had been placed on the other side of the person she'd been talking to._

* * *

"Sora… Sora!"

The girl blinked back to reality. Killua was staring at her intently.

"What happened? You just spaced out." The white-haired boy asked.

"I... I got a flashback of my past. It has already happened for a couple of times." Sora rubbed her eyes. "Don't worry. They are quite useful actually."

"Okay. It was quick though. Only ten seconds or so." The boy shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "What was it about?"

"About my Sixth sense. Like I just could… feel that that man just now wouldn't survive. It's something that has apparently happened before too. I'm not exactly sure how it works." The blonde scratched the back of her head. It seemed that ever since she'd been a child, she'd known how the things would turn out. Well, it made things easier when it came to her knowledge about the plot.

"I see. You make split-second decisions based on that, right?"

"I suppose."

"It protected you from the frog back in the swamp and also prevented you from letting go was the web until the last moment when we were at that funny mountain."

"Correct." Sora nodded. Let the boy make his own deductions and correct him only when he was completely wrong. "Just don't tell anyone else, alright?"

Killua regarded her for a moment before shrugging again. "Okay."

"Thank you very much, Killua-kun. I'll go now to look for an entry to this tower."

"Entry?"

"Yeah. They can't expect us really climb down the outer wall. There's no trick in that. And the tower's name is Trick Tower. Usually towers are towers because they have an interior. Otherwise they'd be just pillars or obelisks or something. So I'm looking for an entry."

"I see. Oi, Gon!" The boy shouted over his shoulder. The green-clad kid jogged to them.

"What is it, Killua?"

"Let's look for an entry."

"Yosh!" And the two kids rushed away. Killua only thanked briefly Sora for the hint before they were too far.

"Okay… I gotta find an entry too. Preferably away from theirs…" The girl began walking around and looking at the stony floor for the right shaped tiles. It didn't take long as there was quite many of them and a large area to look. "Ah…"

* * *

The girl looked around. Some people had already disappeared into the tower, including Hisoka and Gittarackur aka Illumi.

"Right, let's go." Sora jumped on the tile which almost immediately flipped around, dropping her on the floor two meters below. The girl landed softly and stood up. She didn't have any time to be wasted as she didn't know how many challenges she had and how long would they take. For her relief though, she wasn't in the room with five watches waiting for poor applicants(i.e. Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. Tonpa didn't count). There was only one watch on the pedestal underneath a note tacked on the wall.

The girl strode to the sign and read it.

"_Path of Solitude… In this route you'll go through alone. You will have no encounters with other contestants no matter what path you'll take. The clock will tell you the remaining time. And the buttons shall indicate your decisions."_

By the end of the text, she finally realized she understood perfectly the language of the Hunter-World.

"Okay… I guess I have no choice then…" Sora picked up the wristwatch and put it into her right wrist as in her left one she had a regular watch. "It's almost half past eight now since the airship went slower. Better not waste any more time."

Static behind her informed that the examiner was about to contact her.

"My name is Lippo. I am the prison warden here, as well as the Third Phase examiner." The man in the control room introduced himself. "Multiple routes through this tower have been prepared. You have chosen the path of solitude. Confidence in your own decisions will be the key through this route."

"I see…"

A panel of wall slid up, revealing a door.

"You shall begin now."

"Okay… But don't eat too much snacks, Lippo-san. It's not good for your health." Sora told the man as she approached the door and pressed O to open it. "And it's not nice to hear the munching through the microphone." She added before vanishing to the corridor behind it.

* * *

This first decisions Sora had to make were relatively easy. Just about which way she'd turn when she came to a fork. First she turned to right and apparently avoided a confrontation with one of the inhabitants of the tower and next she turned left. That turn made her face a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the large stone table in the middle of the room. The problem with them was though that they had nothing to indicate the order of the pieces.

"Okay… I've made puzzles before. First I need to find the edge pieces." The blonde settled on dealing the pieces into two stacks. One with the pieces of one of two straight edges and others without. The other pieces she pushed in the middle of the table and the rest near her. As she observed the amount of pieces, she came to the conclusion that they'd cover the whole table once the puzzle was done. But now she faced a dilemma. She did now know which corner piece belonged to which corner.

"Damn… I gotta start from one corner and almost blindly proceed from there… At least one side is colored differently so I won't try to fit the pieces upside down…" Sora crumbled, picking one of the corners and placing it into the corner of the rectangular table before going to find a piece to fit its edge.

"_One side of these pieces is the same color than the table so it's safe to assume that's 'down'. And one is the same color than the ceiling, 'up'."_ The girl picked up one of the pieces size of a plate and examined its surface. _"There's gotta be a hint for the future reference. One can build this puzzle with only the edges but it will take simply too long time…"_

Running a hand along the surface, Sora noted that the 'up'-side wasn't smooth. It had some patterns but due the dim lighting of the room and the dark color of the piece, one couldn't see it on naked eye.

"I need more light." All the torches were on the walls, casting annoying shadows around the room and disturbing Sora's working. Not to mention that they were too far and couldn't be moved. The girl dug out her lighter and flicked the flame. Now it was better. Humming she sat up on the table and continued her work.

* * *

Three hours. That's how long it took Sora to finish the puzzle even with the help of her lighter. Nevertheless she continued her way and after three more decisions of which way to go, she faced one of those prisoners who were employed to take down the applicants and this reduce their sentence. Not that it'd actually help them much. They all had some ridiculous sentences.

The man she was facing was a good half a meter taller than her, muscular and in jail for a manslaughter. His sentence was something a bit over hundred years. As if he'd ever live even half of that… He had already been in the jail for twenty-something years already. At least according to his story he'd told her once his cuffs had fallen on the floor.

"So… How does this go?" Sora asked, dropping her backpack on the floor and kicking it near the wall.

"You have a choice. Either you fight with me and potentially die. Or then you forfeit now and are potentially disqualified." The prisoner explained with a bored tone. His eyes were half-lidded and the whole appearance was weary. But Sora knew better than trust the first impression of the man. after all this was the Hunter-World.

"Potentially disqualified? What does that mean?"

"You will go through the door on the left and walk down a slow path of maze before meeting another prisoner… if meeting… and then fight him. Possibly. He is stronger than me for sure and you can avoid the fight with him only by forfeiting and being disqualified for sure."

"So basically I either fight you now and possibly die or then I fight the other guy and possibly die or avoid both fights and give up becoming a Hunter this year."

"Basically yes." The man in front of her nodded.

"If I win you here… Will I get to the end via a quick route?"

"Yes."

"Okay…" Sora paused for a moment. In this situation she had practically only one choice. And hopefully her strength and experience from before would help her to win. She'd just need to go about all in, trusting her muscle memory. "Let's fight then. What are the rules?"

"Fight until one dies or forfeits. If you forfeit, you'll head down the long route. If I forfeit, you are free to choose either one."

"Alright." Sora slid her right feet behind her and crouched slightly, her hands clenched in fists. What she could see from the man… he was obviously a fighter relying on his strength rather than speed.

"_And begin!"_ Lippo announced via the loudspeaker. The prisoner attacked straight towards Sora. The girl dashed to the side, under the punch of the man's left hand. Once she was about a meter behind the guy, she changed the direction and jumped in the air, aiming a kick to the man's head. The convict happened to look over his shoulder right on that moment and the heel or Sora's foot hit him right on the forehead.

The man staggered a few step until he came to a halt. Sora landed softly a good three meters behind him.

_I can do this… I just need to trust myself…_

"Arrrrh… Strong little girl. I suppose I have to take this seriously too." The man mumbled, while turning around and holding his forehead. But Sora didn't give him a chance to attack when she was already in the right side of him. Her hand briefly touched the man's shoulder before she bounced upwards, landing directly a top of his head and pushing it to the floor as he lost his balance. There, standing on the prisoner's head, Sora happened to glance at her wrist watch. Altogether she'd used about six hours in this phase. That meant Hisoka was about to finish his route.

The guy beneath her shifted.

"Are you giving up?"

A grunt.

"Not yet? How honorable of you." The blonde girl mocked. She jumped up and landed on the same spot. A crunch and howl indicated that the man's nose was broken.

"Giving up now?" She asked again.

Another disagreeing grunt. With a sigh the girl took her staff from her back and twisted it into its full length. She drove one end of it right on the back of the man's hand. The bones cracked underneath the force and this time the man didn't yell or even grunt.

"Used to torture, eh?" The staff was slammed on the other hand. "For man who relies on his hands and strength, you surely disregard it all. You just want to keep your life. That's why you tried to scare me to the long route to the certain disqualification.

"Giving up now?" The staff hit the bottom of the man's feet.

"No."

"Then I suppose I just have to kill you." Sora shortened the staff and jumped backwards, landing right next to her backpack. She dug out one of her knives and walked slowly to the man. The guy's shoulders tensed but he didn't move. Probably the hits on the head were still making him dizzy and the pain in his palms prevented him from moving. Pathetic.

Sora kneeled on the prisoner's upper back and placed the tip of her knife to the soft spot in the base of his skull.

"Some people can knock out people by simply pressing here… But with a right tool, man can be killed too. I only need to slide this knife five centimeters in until I hit your spinal cord. And that… That will cause you to suffocate to death." The girl explained with a low voice. "So I ask you one more time… Are you giving up?"

No answer.

"Fine. You were a spineless and nameless character anyways." Sora gripped her knife tightly and pressed it downwards. The sharp steel pierced the skin easily and sunk into the flesh. In fifteen seconds the man stopped moving and the girl pulled out the knife.

"That was unpleasant." She muttered as she wiped the knife clean to the hood the prisoner had been wearing when she'd arrived. The door on her right opened. Yes, she'd definitely take the shorter route.

* * *

Once the knife was safely tucked into Sora's backpack and the girl had continued to the corridor, she finally let out a shudder.

"That was scary…" She muttered. Not only facing that guy but also how easily she'd defeated him. How easily she'd killed him. Yes, he was only some nameless character that didn't affect the plot at all but he was still a human in this world.

"Just who am I…"

* * *

The next challenge was a quiz. A freaking quiz about the world. It had everything possible. Economics, politics, culture and nature. Sora guessed her answers. Well… She did spent time trying to figure the correct answers out by logic. In the end she had correct answers six out of ten. That meant she'd have to spent eight hours in the quiz room and continue her journey then.

"_So that means I have spent almost 15 hours when I get out of here… With a good luck I'll be the fifth one to finish since Hisoka was first with six hours. Gittarackur second… then was Hanzo and then Gerreta whose time was about twelve hours. Pokkle and Goz would be next then with thirty hours under the belt."_ The girl mused as she settled down by the wall for a short nap.

* * *

Four hours later Sora was properly rested and able to walk on. On the rest of her chosen route had no more obstacles left but was tediously long.

"Path of Solitude. Fitting name indeed. Long lonely corridors just made for one to start doubting their decisions in every turn. To doubt their luck and abilities…" She made her way down a pair of stairs. The n-th staircase this far. When would she reach the end?

"Booooring…" Sora sighed and blinked. She was facing a wall about three meters before her. Great, was this a dead end?

Just then the piece of wall/a door slid up.

"_Sora, applicant #173, is the fifth to pass. Total time, seventeen hours and forty-two minutes."_ Lippo announced via the loud speaker when Sora stepped into the final room with the other already passed applicants sitting by the wall. Just like she remembered: Hisoka, Gittarackur, Hanzo and Gerreta.

"Finally…" The girl muttered making her way to the wall right next to her door and sitting down. Now she only had some fifty hours plus to spent. Over two days in the other hand. And her wristwatch was telling her that it was almost two in the morning. Great. Just so great…

* * *

**A/N: Alright. I decided to cut this here. Fear not though. I'll put Zevil's Island into one chapter anyways. Speaking of which... Do you think I should use the English names(I already use it with Beans...) or Japanese ones? In the other words... Phantom Troupe, York New and Melody... Or Genei Ryodan, York Shin and Senritsu? I have no idea.**

**Reply to a review(you others don't need to be shy. I love everything you send):**

**-leroalice:  
Ah, it's dangerous to ask questions. I don't want to spoil anything so I can't answer. Suggestions and ideas are welcome and I can discuss about those thories but no questions okay. Thank you for the review anyways. :)**

**()**

**Okay... I think I'll start writing the next chapter tomorrow. We'll see about that. Just remember that I'm still open for pairing, Nen and backround ideas.**


	6. Lush Green

**A/N: I'm sorry I took such a long time. Please forgive me! *bows deep* I just have had so much other stuff to do and sudden inspirations that I've wanted to get out of my head. But now I wrote this one up. In one day! And I'm right now about to fall asleep but I wanted to get this to you since I got this done. I hope you like this. I stop rambling now and let you read. Good night!**

* * *

**Chapter 6  
Lush Green: Zevil's Island**

Sora slept and ate breakfast. Slept some more and woke up for lunch. Fiddled with her stuff for a couple of hours and played Q&A on her phone. Then was dinnertime. She fell asleep once more after that. First day was spent in that manner.

On the second day Sora talked a bit with other applicants. There was Pokkle, Ponzu, Siper and even Amori b(r)others… The blonde stayed clear from Hisoka, Gittarackur and a few more applicants like Goz. And Hanzo. Because no one could really listen to him talk. Oh yeah, he was a ninja and cool and stuff but he was way too talkative.

* * *

And while sometimes Sora was so bored she felt like just banging her head against the wall, she managed to find a positive aspect of her current situation: Tonpa wasn't there. And that about made it up.

It had been a few hours since the last meal. It had been almost as good as the meals in the airship. Naturally there had also been bathroom for the applicants to use where Sora washed her face and neck and hoped that Hisoka or someone else could smell the stench of blood and death that possibly lingered on her. Although it probably lingered on every single one of them…

The door opened. The last door. It was almost the deadline. Footsteps could be heard from there and after a minute Gon, Killua and Kurapika stepped out, wide smiles on their faces. They talked about blisters on their palms while Leorio and Tonpa followed them, trying to shove each other out of the way and thus fail. Sora smiled at the quartet. Everyone was here now. All twenty-four of them… No, not twenty-four. Twenty-five since Sora was there too. Oh dear, this was going to be a tough one.

The girl took a look on her phone where she had made a list of the remaining applicants and their numberplates. Next to those names where what happened each of them… It didn't leave much leeway for her…Right now she really wished that the Troll-Guide had some clear plans for her. Some non-Sue plans preferably.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on having escaped Trick Tower." Lippo told them when they all were gathered outside the base of the tower. Fresh air! Sora didn't know anything better than that. "Only the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase remain."

"Two more…" Hanzo commented. Lippo pointed over his shoulder at an island in the horizon.

"The Fourth Phase will take place over there, on Zevil's Island. Let us proceed." The examiner snapped his fingers dramatically and a box was brought over to them. Very anticlimactic.

And was it just her but was 'Zevil' a pun from 'Devil'? Sora remembered from somewhere that on some occasions in Japanese the words with a 'D' were written with 'Z' or vice versa. The same happened with 'V's and 'B's…

"I will need you to draw lots." Lippo continued the explanation. It roused chatter immediately. When Pokkle asked what was it for… "To determine who will hunt and who will be hunted."

Sora frowned. That wasn't a proper explanation. It gave an impression that they'd be divided in two groups and those would be the roles of the groups. The proper way to describe the 'game' would be "who will hunt who".

"In here are twenty-five numbered cards. In other words, your ID numbers are on the cards. Now, I need you each to draw a card in the order by which you exited the tower. Will the first person some forward?"

Hisoka walked to the box and picked a card which number was covered. Sora noted how Gon reacted on the clown's injure.

Gittarackur, the creepiest being ever, was next, then Hanzo, Gerreta, Pokkle and Goz. After those was Sora's turn. She swallowed nervously and walked to the box. She had no idea which number she'd get. Would she get a number that belonged to one of the characters surely making their way to the Final Phase? Hopefully not. Would she get number of one of their targets? Hopefully not. To her knowledge, Gittarackur was the only one who didn't get his initial target… Oh dear… Troll-Guide do your magic or you are dead.

Sora picked a card and returned to her place. Once there she removed her numberplate and put it deep into her backpack. Then she returned watching the rest of the applicants take the card of their target. She couldn't help but worrying who was going to get the card with her number.

At last Tonpa had also taken his card.

"Everyone's taken a card?" Lippo asked. "Then, remove the seal from your card."

They did. Sora let out a breath she'd been holding. While this was probably the worst cliché ever, it just might've just saved her life. Her card was one of the Amori brother's. The one who was not Killua's or Hanzo's targets. Which meant she probably should team up with the ninja at some point so they could catch those badges despite which way Killua would throw them. But the teaming up couldn't happen immediately. No, it'd be too suspicious. But maybe after the first or second day…

"The card indicates your target." Lippo's voice brought the girl back to reality. And the words he said caused an immediate reaction: applicants covered their badges. Sora kept an eye on the other's so she could see who would be targeting her. This far no one caught her attention but maybe in the boat they'd be more obvious.

"This box has recorded which card each of you drew. This means that you're free to dispose of the cards if you wish. The objective is to steal your target's ID tag."

"Oh, so we don't need to kill each other." Imori(blue-clad of the trio of brothers) breathed in relief.

"Naturally you're free to use any method you choose to steal the ID tags-."

Like Hisoka going on rampage…

"-Including killing your target and taking the tag off the corpse.

"That sounds like the fastest way." Amori(seriously they are called Amori brothers and one of their name is Amori?), the red-clad, smirked.

"S-So that's what this is about?" Imori stuttered.

"Fool, there's nothing to be scared of." Umori(the yellow one) nudged the blue boy.

"Listen carefully!" Lippo called. "Your target's ID tag is worth three points. Your own ID tag is also worth three points. All other ID tags are worth one point. You need six points to advance to the Final Phase. So while on Zevil's Island, you must gather enough ID tags to total six points. That is the condition for clearing the Hunter Exam's Fourth Phase."

The words were met with silence.

* * *

And so the boat ride began. Sora took her seat near Kurapika and Leorio. The two asked her about the path she'd taken since she'd been down so early.

"It was… interesting." Sora replied her eyes closed. "It had a quiz, a puzzle, a fight and a few choices."

"So you were alone the whole time?" Kurapika questioned. The girl opened her eyes.

"Yeah, I was. So?"

"Kurapika just was worried about you." Leorio grinned. "We all were after we realized what sort of obstacles we were facing." When the bluish green eyes narrowed, the to-be-Doctor hurried to explain. "I-I mean… there were five of us – not that the bastard would've been any help – and we still had troubles and you were alone…"

"I get it Leorio-kun." Sora held up a hand to stop the ramble. The med students eye twitched at the '-kun' but he didn't interrupt. "I appreciate your concern but I'm fine really. It was downright easy to get through the tower." That wasn't a lie. It had been easy. Frighteningly so even. "How about you? What did you meet along the way?"

And the duo (mostly Leorio though) launched into a tale of the Path of Majority Rule. Sora nodded and hummed in appropriate places but otherwise didn't really pay attention.

"I'd like to commend everyone onboard for their excellent performances in the Third Phase. I will serve as your guide." The woman speaking to a headset had orange hair and yellow eyes. She was wearing a red skirt and white long-sleeved t-shirt with a pastel yellow slipover. Her name, if Sora remembered correctly, was…"My name is Khara." Yep, that's right. "It will take two hours for this boat to reach Zevil's Island. All twenty-five applicants remaining here are automatically qualified to take the next year's exam!" A wink with a big yellow twinkling star. "So if you fail this year, don't feel bad. Please try again next year…" And the gloomy atmosphere caught her. Sora smiled to her sympathetically.

"Khara-san… you understand that about everyone here is thinking either passing the exam or preparing to die while trying it." The girl told the woman.

"Uh… yes…"

"The battle has already begun." Kurapika stated to Leorio and Sora.

"Yeah, everyone's removed their ID tags, and hid them." Leorio agreed.

"Well, you're free to do as you like, for the next two hours. Please enjoy the boat ride." Khara ended her speech, vanishing then to somewhere below the deck. Leorio glanced at his two companions nervously.

"Speaking hypothetically… if either of you happened to be my target, I wouldn't show any mercy."

"Naturally." Kurapika agreed. "If you happened to be my target, I would be the same."

"Hmm… If one of you were my target I wouldn't need to show any mercy. I'd just snatch he tag and flee. And neither of you would notice a thing." Sora mused. She was now more confident on her abilities and was pretty sure she was stronger than either of the two currently were.

Leorio panicked.

"I'm your target?!" He didn't even care which one of them he was talking to. Kurapika chuckled.

"I was speaking hypothetically." The Kurta smiled.

"Oh, right…"

"Don't worry. You are not my target. Neither of you." Kurapika pushed himself off the edge of the boat and made his way elsewhere.

"And you aren't my target!" Leorio called after him. Sora let out a laugh, making the young man turn to glare her.

"What now?"

"Well… You aren't my target either." The girl grinned before going to look for Gon and Killua.

* * *

But by the time she found them (the boat was surprisingly big), the child assassin was already leaving the porcupine kid. Killua stopped in front of Sora who also slowed down. The bright blue eyes scrutinized her for a moment.

"So you were the seventh applicant to pass." He stated.

"That I was."

"Was it easy? With your amnesia and all?"

"I did just fine. But it was easier than I thought." Sora smiled and with a nod, Killua continued his way. The girl sat next to Gon on the bottom of the boat. "Hello." She greeted him.

"Hello, Sora-san." The boy greeted back, smiling brightly.

"Do you already know who's your target?"

"I do. It's…" The boy swallowed before whispering. "It's Hisoka…"

"Oh, that's a bad one… I hope you survive from that alive then." The blonde grinned.

"So do I. What about you? What's Sora-san's target?"

"Someone." Sora shrugged. "But I already have a plan for that. Kind of…"

"Good luck then. I don't have any plan yet." Gon laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sure you'll come up with one."

"Maybe…"

* * *

The rest of the journey was spent by idle chatting between Gon and Sora. The boy told about his life on the whale island and Sora told about the little she'd found out about her past.

"But all in all that was just a scratch on the surface. A couple of random flashbacks from so far back don't really tell much." Sora shrugged. Suddenly a sharp pain travelled across her left shoulder. The blonde girl flinched. "Ouch."

"Are you alright?" Gon leaned closer in concern as Sora squeezed the place the pain had flashed. It was gone now but the phantom pain lingered…

"I think so…" Sora frowned. She opened the top of her outfit and pulled it off her shoulder, leaving her only in a sleeveless t-shirt. When the girl got a look on her shoulder she saw… "Nothing. There's nothing."

"Nothing?" Gon peeked across her and blinked as he also noticed that the skin on the girl's shoulder was completely alright. There was no scar, no wound, not even a scratch.

"Weird… It really hurt just now…" Sora ran a finger across the area she'd felt the pain but didn't feel anything, just smooth skin. Surprisingly smooth actually.

"Maybe you'll find out about it when you remember more…" The green-clad kid suggested.

"Yeah… That must be it. I shouldn't bother myself about it yet; just concentrate on passing the exam."

* * *

The boat came to the shore and it was Khara's turn to take the stage for a moment once again.

"Thanks for your patience, everyone. We've finally arrived at Zevil's Island! Now, please disembark in the order by which you cleared the Third Phase." The woman explained. "After each person disembarks, we'll wait two minutes before the next person's turn."

Which meant that Sora's turn would be in fourteen minutes plus the time each person took to leave the boat.

"You will stay on this island for exactly one week. During that time, you must amass your six points of ID tags and return here.

"Alright then, the first person may start!" And Hisoka left.

* * *

When it was Sora's turn she took a note on people who especially watched her back. She wasn't sure was it because they thought she was their target or because they thought she'd be an easy target. It didn't exactly narrow down her list of potential enemies. Although in this game everyone was each other's enemy. Except the main char quartet. As she left, she wished a nice week for Khara who beamed at her then.

The first thing Sora did once she was in the shadow of the trees so people in the boat couldn't see her, was to sprint fast onwards. She'd better find a good place to camp for the upcoming week or at least for the first two nights. And she didn't need any stalkers to find her.

"_If I remember right… There was a stream where Gon practiced his aim. If I find it I can stay there for a night. With Gon or without…"_

The stream was found quite far from the starting point. And because some of the woods grew quite near to the water, it took her time to find and appropriate place to camp. And coincidentally she found one: the place where Gon was practicing with the apples hanging from the tree.

Sora stopped nearby and crouched low. She remembered that Gerreta was stalking Gon somewhere near too but wouldn't act until the sixth day or so. The boy himself was so immersed with his 'target' that he noticed neither of them. Finally Sora got enough of it and she stood up and coughed a bit. She had the boy's attention now.

"Sora-san?" Gon took a step back and crouched a bit into a defensive position. He was obviously thinking that she was after his tag. After all she hadn't mentioned her target's number.

"Easy, Gon-kun. I'm not after your badge." Sora chuckled. The boy blinked and relaxed a bit.

"You aren't?"

"Nope. Mine is one of the Amori brother's. Dunno which one."

"What are you doing here then?"

"Looking for a place to camp. Mind if I stay here? This place seems to be a good one. Besides it could be better to stay together for the first night. Safety in numbers and all that."

"Alright." The kid agreed immediately and the girl facepalmed mentally. The boy was way too trusting…

* * *

While Gon continued practicing, Sora set up the camp. Since neither of them had any proper camping gear with them, they decided to sleep under the open sky next to their campfire that the girl had set up. They didn't eat anything but Sora didn't even feel hungry. And she guessed Gon was used to camping and being without food for longer amounts of time.

When Gon finally fell asleep due pure exhaustion, Sora was able to spot Gerreta's hiding place in the dark. She sent a glare to the direction, telling him to stay clear from them.

* * *

**Day two**

Sora didn't sleep during the entire night. She wasn't tired. After sleeping so much at the Trick Tower, she felt like a Duracel bunny. And after Gon had gotten a good night's sleep, he acted like one. After waking up and washing his face, the boy was ready to continue his training. Sora just chuckled and picked up her backpack.

"Alright, I'm off now. Take care of yourself and watch your back, okay?"

"Sure. Good luck, Sora-san."

"Good luck to you too, Gon."

After two hours Sora found another clearing next to the stream. She sat down, took off her shoes and rolled up her pants legs before putting her feet to relax in the cool stream.

"Aah…" The blonde sighed in bliss. She had been so tense the entire night but now… Now she didn't sense anyone around so she allowed herself to rest her eyes for a moment. Just for a little moment…

* * *

_Sora hit a man in the middle with a wooden staff her brother had shoved into her hands. The older boy in the other hand was beating two other guys with a pair of tonfas. They were almost down. The little girl dodged a swing and hit her staff behind the guy's knees now. The man went down and she hit him around the head for a good measure._

"_Sora, run! I'll catch up then!" Her brother yelled suddenly._

"_But nii-san…"_

"_Just go, I'm almost finished."_

_She began running, staff in one hand and her smaller backpack in the other. She could hear her brother beating down the other two guys. She risked a glance behind, just to see her big brother was alright. The boy took his bag and run after her but…_

"_Sora, look out!"_

_The girl whipped her head to look before her but too late. There had been a fourth thug. That guy seized the little girl up, making her drop the stuff she carried._

"_Nii-san!"_

"_Let her go!"_

"_My, my… A strong pair of brats you are…" The man grinned. Though Sora couldn't see it, he was missing a couple of teeth. "I will get a good price from you…"_

"_Ngggh…" Sora struggled against the grip on her neck. Her tiny body had never felt so weak. "N-Nii-san…"_

"_Let her go!" The boy growled, rooted on the spot so he wouldn't provoke the man into hurting his sister._

"_I don't think so." The thug sneered. The boy blew up. Sora didn't even know what happened. She couldn't follow the events at all. One moment her brother was standing in front of her and the next she was on his arms and the bad man was down. The boy was breathing loudly and holding her tightly._

"_I told you to let her go…" He muttered, glaring at the corpse of the man behind the girl._

"_Nii-san…?"_

"_Come, Sora. Let's go." The boy guided her gently away so she didn't need to see the dead body. He picked up her backpack and fighting staff and led her deeper into the forest where they'd been ambushed. Sora sniffed._

"_N-Nii-san…" A tiny fist began rubbing tears away from her eyes._

"_Yes, Sora?"_

"_I want to be stronger. A lots and lots and lots stronger. And faster. Faster than anyone."_

"_Why so?"_

"_So you don't need to worry about me. So I can take care of myself too. I want to… I wanna be as strong as Nii-san!" And little Sora was bawling her eyes out against her brother's moss green tunic. The boy hugged her._

"_Alright. Let's make you stronger. I'll start teaching you. And we'll go somewhere full of strong people."_

"_Where's that?"_

"_Meteor City."_

* * *

Sora blinked awake. Only one word was stuck in her mind now. One place. Meteor City. The teen swallowed. If she really was from there…

"There's no hope in finding any official records about me. And my strength might be more than I anticipated…" She muttered. Then she realized another detail from the memory. Her brother. She remembered him afterwards saying that he'd blacked out and didn't know what exactly had happened to the man. And that speed… It was much more than he'd usually done.

"_Nen… I guess he used Nen for the first time back then."_ Sora drew circles on the surface of the water with her toes absent-mindedly. _"I need to figure out my own abilities soon too. I need to know what my Nen type is…"_

She got on her feet and put on her shoes. "But first I need to find Hanzo and Killua. And the Amori brothers."

It was late evening when Sora found the ninja. He was in the shadows, following Killua and Imori. Sora in the other hand stood on a branch of a tree. It was quite creepy and shadowy in that part of the forest but she didn't care. She needed the badge and she needed to trade it with Hanzo. As simple as that. But the time of confrontation wasn't yet. Well, she had time. Time and energy. And that's what she needed for the upcoming night.

* * *

**Day three**

Sora had finally spotted Hanzo. The ninja was on the left from their targets while Sora was on the right. Killua continued walking on. Sora took a short nap during midday but caught up quickly with the others. None of them seemed to have spotted her yet. She ate an apple she'd taken with her from Gon's training and drank some water from her water bottle but otherwise did nothing else aside from following her target.

* * *

**Day Four**

Imori was finally spotted. Sora let out a sigh of relief. The following had become a tedious job. She watched as Killua approached the young man. And there was the other two brothers. It was about the time already.

Yep, the showdown began. Killua took the badge from Imori and then got Amori as a hostage. Umori was forced to give up his own badge.

"And as for the tag I don't need…" The kid assassin smirked and turned around. He threw one badge into one direction and one to the other. Sora waited for a moment to see which one Hanzo would go to retrieve before dashing after the other one. Soon would be the bargaining time. And getting the badges of the other two applicants that Hanzo wouldn't target anymore.

It was fun to run after the other badge. The wrong badge. She didn't need to hold back her speed and her muscle memory made sure she didn't run into anything. The trees were just a blur around her as her feet just barely touched the branches and trunks.

"Gotcha!" Sora landed on the soft grass with the badge #197 on her hand. "And now to find the mouthy ninja."

* * *

**Day Five**

Sora found Kyu, the drunkard looking guy that had been Pokkle's target. The man was still out of cold and after going through his pockets, the girl found she'd been the guy's target.

"Too bad, drunky." She smirked and bounced into the woods.

Finding Hanzo again turned out to be one of the toughest missions this far. The ninja definitely knew his jutsu. On the way though Sora came face to face with Shishito, a guy who in the original story line was beaten up by Hanzo. The girl won the fight with him though and took his badge, #89. She could always keep it as insurance.

* * *

**Day Six**

Second last day. Sora slept well. She had bathed on the previous day in the stream and felt nice and clean and fresh now. She had also inspected her shoulder but had found nothing on it. Weird thing…

"Oh, hello, Ninja-san." Hanzo was just picking the tag of his fallen opponent, Kenmi who was number #362. The bald teen (Sora had troubles to believe the guy was a year younger than her) straightened up and directed a slight glare at her. "Easy, easy… I came here for a trade. You were hard to find you know." Sora laughed, showing her empty hands in mock surrender.

"A trade? Why and what would I want to trade with you?" Oh, good. He was sceptic unlike Gon.

"Well… I guess you were after this." Sora showed the badge #197 she had caught. "And I were after the other one."

"This one?" The ninja showed tag number #198.

"That's the one." The girl grinned. "Interested in an exchange?"

"I could always go after other applicants."

"You could but there's no one left." Sora shrugged. The ninja took a step back in shock. The blonde sighed and took out her phone where she had her list. "I did some research while here… There're a lot of applicants who already have their needed tags. Hisoka has four: his targets and three others. Gon has two: his and his target's. Same with Kurapika, Killua, Pokkle, Bodoro and Gittarackur. That means sixteen tags. Then there three from me: mine and two others. Nineteen. You've three too to my knowledge: yours and two others. That means twenty-two. So there're three badges left. Leorio is going after one of them and one is his own. The third one… I guess the owner is either dead or someone is using is as a bargaining chip somewhere else." The last one wasn't exactly a lie but technically Sora wasn't supposed to know what was the situation with Bourbon.

"Alright, I believe you. On three." Hanzo held up the tag its number towards Sora to indicate he wasn't trying to cheat while the girl did the same.

"One… two… three!" They tossed the badges simultaneously each other and caught the incoming ones.

"Thank you! It was a pleasure to make business with you." Sora waved her goodbye and jumped away before the ninja had a chance to reply.

* * *

**Day Seven**

Sora took it easy on the last day. She practiced/tested her knife-throwing skills both with the chained knives and the regular throwing knives. And she was impressed. All those things she were able to do…

"I must've practiced hard…" The girl muttered as she went to wrench the blades out of some poor tree.

_**Dhooooo!**_

It was the boat.

"_The Fourth Phase of the exam has just ended."_ Khara's voice echoed on the island. _"Will the applicants please return to the starting point at once? You will be given one hour of extra time. If you do not return during this time, you will fail the exam. Furthermore, you are not allowed to exchange tags after reaching the starting point."_

Sora made her way towards the shore. She could see Pokkle, Killua and Hisoka going to the direction before her.

"_Anyone caught swapping tags will be disqualified."_

* * *

They were standing on the rocky shore of the starting point. Khara stepped out of the boat to count the points. Almost everyone was there. Only the Trio was missing.

"Then we will now check the tags of everyone here!" Khara smiled. They showed their tags they'd gathered. For some reason Sora felt extreme satisfaction that she (and Hanzo) had one point more than the rest of the passed applicants. But that was trivial.

"So, seven applicants have passed?" Their ginger guide asked. "Oh?"

And the Trio was there! On the last second like on the previous phase. They showed their badges. Sora and Killua noted the slight change on Gon's behavior but neither of them commented it.

"So these ten applicants have passed the Fourth Phase of the Exam!" Khara announced in proper mahoujo-shoujo anime style. Sora had to hold back a grimace.

"Well, I can't wait for participating in the quite peculiar fight." The girl decided to state as everyone made their way to the boat. Above them the airship of the Hunter's Association was to be seen floating leisurely.

* * *

Sora yawned on her seat on the windowsill. After a short boat ride, they'd embarked on the airship. Embark… How she hated that word… But now the excitement of the last week was wearing off and she was extremely tired. She could just…

The blonde's head hit the glass softly and she was off to the land of dreams once again.

* * *

**A/N: And here was are again. On the Author Note of the bottom of the page. I bet you've got some questions and I've decided to answer them. But only if the answers aren't spoiling the plot. Although I guess you already have quite a good idea of Sora's background now.**

**And I think I'm going along with the Japanese names. Altought Chrollo will be Chrollo since Kuroro is the way of writing it in Japanese and it looks stupid if he has Japanese looking first name and Western last name. Don't you agree?**

**Review Replies:**

**-Pri-Chan 1410:  
Thank you very much. As you can see the update is finally here. :D**

**-SakuraPetals13:  
Thank you very much! Your comment made my day!  
I think I get you are saying. I'm trying my best. I don't like it either when an OC comes and(if it's a self insert fic) keeps saying that s/he won't change anything and nothing out of the plot will happen, YET they go and change things. I know that Sora will have troubles when she comes to face the fact she'll let Pokkle and Ponzu die and not warn them. I remember reading a SI fic where the char goes to warn them. It was a good fic but... yeah...  
Simon? Yeah... She'll meet him. But he lives in Meteor City. As you cen see from this chapter, that place deals a great significance to her.  
And having one flashback per chapter must be also taxing for her. I feel for her. :'|  
Dank juu! I hope you hear your opinion about this chapter too. :D**

**-Guest:  
As you can see I came to the same conclusion. :)**


	7. Violet

**A/N: Yesh, I managed to write this one too! I hate fighting scenes... Well, I like them but writing them is a pain. I have different moves in my head and then I try to fit them into a sensible fight. And then I need to put it on the paper and make it sound sensible to you too.**

**Oh, and did you notice the cover picture? I drew it awhile ago and only now got it here. Whops... Anyways... That's Sora with her chained knives. Adn ehr regular outfit that she won't be wearing until York Shin arc... That seems to be so far away...**

* * *

**Chapter 7  
Violet: Talk and Fight**

The announcement about the interviews woke up Sora with a start. The girl let out a yawn after gathering her bearings and headed toward lounge room where the rest of the applicants were residing in and waiting for the call to the reception room in the second floor.

Hisoka was in. Tough Sora didn't know it, the clown mentioned her number. Both in the keeping an eye on and not wanting to fight. Netero naturally just coolly wrote down the answers.

Pokkle didn't mention her. Apparently she hadn't caught his attention yet.

Killua told the chairman that he was keeping an eye on the blonde girl along with Gon though he also told he found her irritating at times.

Then it was Sora's turn.

"Hmm… I want to become an information Hunter. I like to find out different fact and then use the knowledge to my advantage." The girl told Netero. To be honest she'd figured it out properly during her trade with Hanzo but at least she had now some other reason than finding out who she was in this world. "And I thought Hunter Exam could be a good opportunity to test my abilities." That wasn't a lie either.

"Alright, which of the nine other applicants are you keeping an eye on?"

"Hmm… There're the four that I've befriended… #99, #403, #404 and #405… and then there's those to creeps that I definitely don't want to fight: #44 and #301."

"Oh, you already answered to my second question too!" Netero laughed. "You are free to go now."

Then was Bodoro and Gittarackur. Neither of them mentioned Sora.

Gon in the other hand told Netero that he wouldn't want to fight the girl.

When it was Hanzo's turn, the ninja only mentioned Hisoka and no one else.

Kurapika's answer was… enigmatic to say the least but Sora wasn't specifically mentioned.

Leorio was like Hanzo. He mentioned only one person. And that was Gon.

* * *

On the next day the ten of them were gathered to the room they'd fight in the Hunter's Association Headquaters. Or in a place something like that… Netero was there and so was Beans **(A/N: I'm keeping this one in English)** and the other examiners. There were whispers and silence at the same time in the room. Sora swallowed. She was really nervous about this.

"Well, gentlemen." The chairman began. "Did you get plenty of rest? This hotel is owned by the Hunter Exam Selection Committee."

Oh, so that's the place.

"The place is all yours until the battles have concluded." The bracket the chairman had drawn was brought in, covered with a sheet. "For Final Phase, we will be holding a one-on-one tournament." The sheet was drawn away. A hush travelled through the applicants.

"So only one of us will become a Hunter?" Leorio asked.

"No. One win is all you need to pass."

"One win?" Gon gasped.

"Then, in this tournament…" Leorio began.

"The winners are removed from competition while the losers continued up the bracket. In other words, the person who finishes at the top will not pass. Does everyone understand now?"

"So you're saying that only one person will fail." Hanzo asked.

"Exactly."

_Clack, clack…_ Netero stepped a bit away from the board. "And here's the bracket." The sheet was pulled away. Silence was thick enough to cut with a knife but thin enough for the knife be quite blunt. Sora could only stare at her placement. She was… She was…

"Impressive, right?" Netero hummed smugly, interrupting the girl's train of thought. "After all, everyone has at least two chances to win."

"But some people, like #294 and #405 get five chances." Pokkle pointed out.

"Why didn't you use a balanced bracket?" Bodoro questioned.

"And what was the purpose of the interviews?" Sora added.

"The questions that must be on everyone's mind." Netero stated. "This bracket was assembled based on your performances throughout the entire exam. Those who performed better received more chances."

Sora noticed Killua blinking in surprise.

"That doesn't sound right." The kid assassin voiced his thoughts. "Can you explain how you scored our performances?" And as an answer to the boy's determined stare…

"NO!"

"Why not?!"

The chairman just laughed. "Your scores are classified information. So I can't tell you everything. But I can explain some methods. First, we consider three major criteria: physical strength, mental strength and overall impression. For physical strength, we use an aggregate of agility, flexibility, endurance and perception. For mental strength, we use an aggregate of resilience, adaptability, judgment and creativity. However, this information is only used as a reference point. After all, you were strong enough to advance to the Final Phase. We are most concerned with your overall impression. This refers to any intangible factors not previously mentioned. You could consider this an evaluation of your potential as a Hunter. And we also incorporate the opinions of your peers. That was our process."

When Netero went into explaining the rules of the fights, Sora kept an eye on Killua. The explanation obviously bothered him.

* * *

"Judging from your expression… you didn't understand that a bit." Sora told Killua quietly when Gon and Hanzo were preparing to their fight. The boy looked up and frowned.

"What? I understood the rules perfectly. No killing and we fight until the other surrenders."

"Not that. I meant the evaluation process. You keep thinking your own performance only. While it's true that you are physically ready to be a Hunter and are about to pass this exam with flying colors… You still lack on both mental strength and overall impression."

"I'm strong mentally. I endured all the tasks just fine while the others were losing their minds." The assassin growled. Sora was irked now.

"Look, I'm explaining this only once and that's only because you are my first opponent." The girl glared. Ever since the names on the bracket had been revealed, she'd been on edge. Only one thing was in her mind. Win Killua. She couldn't afford losing since that could easily alter the whole rest of the story.

"Then what is it?" The boy glared back.

"I heard about the Trick Tower from Leorio-kun and Kurapika-kun. What caught my attention was the room of the last choice. You were completely ready to kill two of your fellow applicants in order to get out of a sticky situation instead of looking for a sensible and creative solution. You dashed head first into what you saw right in front of you instead of looking around yourself. Gon-kun was the one to realize you all could get out of the room together and still get in time to the finish."

Killua seemed to be ready to interrupt but Sora held out a hand to silence him.

"The other thing was the overall impression you give to everyone throughout the exam. Well, that's easy." The girl chuckled. "All you've done this far is to have been complaining about how easy this has been and how you aren't interested in being a hunter. The question is now then, why are you here? Why didn't you give up a long time ago and give other's a chance to chase their dreams after you saw how _boring_ this was?"

The kid was silenced now. Stunned and confused.

"Yep, that's something for you to think about." Sora patted the boy on the head with a smile. "I hope we'll have a good match."

"Yeah…"

* * *

The match between Gon and Hanzo had been painful to say the least. Sora cringed away several times as she saw her friend getting beaten up but she didn't say a word. She stood silently with her arms crossed over her chest and watched it happen. It was like she wasn't even there. When Gon managed to kick the ninja in the face, she smiled a bit but otherwise her expression didn't change.

But then Hanzo pulled out the hidden blade from the wrappings of his wrist. Sora could only stare. The blade was longer than the width of those bandages. How had it fit?

"I won't accept that!" Gon's reaction to Hanzo's ultimatum froze the whole hall of people. The examiners and applicants alike. Hello, snowmen!

"I don't want my legs cut off, but I don't want to surrender. So let's find a different way to fight!"

"Hey… Do you understand your own position?!" And Hanzo blew up. Sora laughed. She wasn't the only one. At least Hisoka and Bodoro joined in too, though the old man tried to hide it.

"You don't get to make demands! Are you trying to insult me?! I'm seriously gonna cut off your legs!" Didn't the ninja boy even understand that yelling made him every passing second less and less believable?

"But I still will not surrender." Came Gon's firm reply. "Besides, if you do that, I'll bleed to death. He'll be disqualified if that happens, right?" The question was directed to Masta, the referee.

"Oh, yes."

"See? Neither of us wants that to happen. So let's think of a better way."

The blade touched Gon's forehead and a trail of blood appeared down the boy's face.

"You really don't get it. If you die, you'll never get another chance." Hanzo told the green-clad kid with a broken arm. "If I kill you here, I need only try again next year. We are not on equal footing!"

"Maybe so, but you are the one at disadvantage, Ninja-san." Sora spoke up. "Gon's determination not to surrender right here, right now, is greater than yours. His mental strength is greater than yours. His ambitions are set higher that yours. Not to mention that he has everyone on this room on his side, if only temporarily, including you. So he has already won this match."

Her words were met with silence. No one questioned them but no one voiced their agreement either. People were wary of how to act. Kurapika and Leorio were ready to dash to Gon's help, Killua was scrutinizing the situation from the point of an assassin and Hanzo directed his attention back to his opponent who was steadily looking him in the eye. The ninja blew up once again, questioning everything he'd heard, everything he'd also seen. And Gon answered calmly.

"I'm going to find my dad. He is a Hunter, so I'm going to become a Hunter and find him! I believe that I'll find him one day… But I have a feeling that if I give up now, I'll never find him! So I won't surrender."

"If you don't yield, you'll die…" Hanzo tried one last time before withdrawing and announcing that he was giving up. Gon didn't take it lightly and ended up unconscious on the floor of the fighting arena. Sora stretched her fingers. It was her turn next.

* * *

Sora had pulled on a pair gloves from her bag. They were funny things. They were black and reached past her elbows and were missing the finger parts of thumbs, fore and middle fingers. She had tested her knives with them and found them quite handy. She couldn't really explain it. But she was nevertheless going to use her knives and solely those knives.

And now she was standing opposite Killua. The boy had his hands casually in his pockets. It seemed like he was almost about to give up this fight like he'd do with Pokkle but changed his mind then.

"I'm not going easy on you then, Sora."

"I was just about to say the same."

"And start!" Masta stepped out of their way. For a moment nothing happened but then the pair of competitors were gone. Only the most trained eyes could catch them exchanging blows and blocks until Killua was sent flying across the room from a kick Sora had directed to his stomach. It was almost like Déjà vu to the trio of them who had seen the confrontation of the Amori Brothers. Meaning Killua, Sora and Hanzo (+the stalker examiners).

The kid assassin was soon up though as Sora hadn't moved to deliver a next blow. There was a good ten meters between them and the boy could see five throwing knives on the girl's hands. Those knives hadn't been there previously he noted and he couldn't see any place where they could have been hidden. Although Hisoka also pulled his card seemingly from midair…

"Not bad." Killua smirked.

"Agreed." Sora mused. She was honestly surprised that she was able to keep up with the boy and even beat him. Not to mention she wasn't even breaking a sweat. It frightened her. It truly did.

Killua dashed forward. One moment he was there, the next moment behind Sora, right about to slash at her with his claws. The girl side-stepped to the right, sinking down and grabbing the boy's wrist with her left hand. She pulled the kid assassin over her shoulder and he flew once again. Sora could practically feel the astonishment from Leorio and Kurapika coming towards her in waves. They both had seen Killua kill that prisoner, Johannes the Dissector or something like that.

There was a staring contest between the two at the moment. Killu was lying on his stomach and facing the girl who was aiming a knife at him.

First knife flew. The boy jumped out of the way and the second one was already headed towards him. He caught it midair though and threw it back. Sora leaned on the side just enough to dodge it. Meanwhile Killua was already almost at her. The girl pressed her right hand, currently empty, against the floor and bounced in the air, flying over the boy. She landed a mere meter behind him and aimed a blow on his neck. At the same time the claws were back and slashing at her. She couldn't stop the attack but could change its course just enough so the claws just ripped at her left shirt sleeve and not her flesh that much. She was bleeding though. The flashing pain in her shoulder was back.

Sora jumped away from Killua and sent the third knife in his direction, picking up her first knife from the floor with her other hand. The assassin dodged it again and also the next two. The girl had backed him up close one of the wall though. She sent her fifth knife flying. The boy was about to dodge it but…

Killua slid to a stop on the last moment. The knife had imbedded itself on the wall right in front of his nose.

"H-How…"

"Miscalculation?" Sora smirked. "Don't ask me. You were the one on the move."

The boy glared but she ignored it. At the moment she only idly noted that her sleeve was turning red. She didn't feel dizzy yet though but she'd still better finish the match soon enough.

"Alright…" Sora closed her eyes for a moment. On that second Killua had made his way across the room and was ready to strike once again. With her eyes still closed, Sora pulled out one of her chained knives and…

Killua found himself chained into the wall. The chain was wrapped around his chest and his right hand, making him unable to move it. The knives in the other hand were deep in the wall and out of reach for the boy. With a few experimental tugs on the chains which didn't budge, the kid assassin continued his glaring. Sora shrugged and crossed her arms. She had yet another knife on her hand.

"Are you done now? I'd like to stop and I'm sure you are also aware that you have no chances on winning." She told the boy brightly.

"I won't…" The sixth knife grazed his ear.

"Give up. I don't feeling like going on forever." The blood loss was about to get her. "Think about your next battles. Maybe you'll win those more easily." She smiled.

"Fine." Killua gritted his teeth. "I'll lose. Happy now?"

"Perfectly."

"The winner is Sora!" Masta announced and the girl moved to remove her knives from the walls and floor. Once Killua was free, the boy sulked back to his place in the row of applicants. Sora just smiled faintly and went to sit down. It was the time of Kurapika and Hisoka's match.

* * *

Her left sleeve was ripped off and some bandages were covering the wound. Hisoka had just given up his match. The girl was so distracted by everything that she missed the calculating look the clown was giving to her. She only wanted to go to sleep but she couldn't. If there was one thing she wanted to change in this timeline, it was saving Bodoro's life. But in the way that Killua would still be disqualified.

So she watched Hanzo 'torture' Pokkle and Hisoka beat up Bodoro. Killua just walked away from his fight confidently despite the fact he'd just been beaten by Sora. Due Leorio's reguest, his and Bodor's fight was postponed so it was now time for Killua to face Gittarackur aka Illumi the emotionless bastard.

That 'fight' was her hard to follow. Sora just shut down from her place, like she had done about the whole time of Gon's fight. She didn't say anything even when she felt like. She didn't move even when Gon's life was being threatened. She. Did. Nothing.

And it was painful. Killua was her friend in a way. And watching her friend being manipulated so cruelly like that…

* * *

Killua came to his place, his whole being hollow and empty. Kurapika and Leorio tried to get him talk and find out what was wrong but nothing got through him. Sora watched him quietly and when was the time for Leorio to fight Bodoro.

"_This is only about making lethal blow a fatal one. Killua will still be disqualified as the result will be unclear for a long time. The rest will get their licenses and the exam will end…"_

As soon as the white-haired assassin-boy was found standing by the Kung Fu master's side, Sora was on the move. The whole hall silenced in her ears. It was like she was in a dream…

* * *

_The claws stroke. Sora appeared behind him and grabbed his wrist. The momentum was too big for her to stop in such a short notice but she did manage to prevent the claws from sinking that deep into Bodoro's back. Blood spilled on the both of them and the old man went down._

"_Take him to a doctor!" The blonde girl yelled while holding the boy against her chest, her left hand covering his eyes so nothing could provoke him any more. He was still. Dangerously still. The examiners were running around. Killua was declared disqualified for intentional murder attempt. The applicants were staring at the two of them in shock. Some for Killua's attempt, some for Sora's seemingly successful prevention, some at the blood on them._

_After a while the girl finally let go of him. The boy walked away, out of the doors. He wasn't seen after that._

* * *

The sounds came back to her in a rush. Sora blinked and staggered back, almost tripping and being them caught by Leorio.

"Le-orio-kun?" She looked up in surprise.

"You okay, Sora?" The to be Doctor asked gently.

"I-I… I think so…" The girl let out a shuddering sigh and tried to gain the control of her legs. She didn't succeed. She noted that Bodoro had been taken away and the rest of them had also been declared to have passed the exam.

"Come. Let's take you out of here. Kurapika will bring your bag." The businessman looking teen guided Sora out of the arena and to the yard. Sora ran a hand across her face but stopped when her fingers met something wet. Withdrawing the hand, she was it being blood. She shuddered.

"I hope Bodoro-san will be alright…" She whispered.

"So do I…"

* * *

"Sora-san…" Kurapika sat on the same bench than the two of them. He placed their different pieces of luggage at their feet. "That was impressive what you did."

"T-Thank you…" The girl muttered, still not letting go of Leorio. She didn't trust herself enough to stay upright.

"We have the orientation tomorrow. Until then we are free to do whatever we please." The Kurta continued. He figured to keep the girl talking so she wouldn't sink into a shock.

"I see. I gotta wash myself up then…" Sora attempted to get up but the both males pulled her back to sit.

"No need to rush, Sora. We have time." Leorio told her. "Just calm down."

"You know… It's good that Gon-kun is out of cold at the moment. I wouldn't have wanted him to see Killua almost kill that man."

"Agreed." Kurapika nodded.

"True that." Leorio mused.

"I wonder if Killua is alright though…" Sora mumbled. She was tired. So tired…

* * *

"_Nee, Nii-san?" Sora tugged the boy's sleeve. He looked back at her._

"_What is it now, Sora?" He sighed. The day had been long and both of them were more or less tired._

"_You'll never leave me, right?"_

_The look in the boy's eyes softened considerably at the question._

"_Of course not. Unless we decide to travel on our own, I'll stay with you always."_

_Sora grinned and hugged the older boy. "I love you Nii-san. I'll never ever never leave you."_

"_I love you too, Sora." The boy replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. He knew the girl was too independent to tag along all the time in the future…_

* * *

"_Sora, are you sure you want to leave?" They were older now. A lot older actually. Sora was wearing a violet tunic with light turquoise trimmings and black long pants. She was fingering her telescopic fighting staff and checking the contents of her bag._

"_Yes, I am. You have your own adventures with this lot and I want to have my own ones."_

"_I wouldn't say adventures…" The young man muttered, looking away where some of their friends, their family, were playing cards._

"_In any case, I want to see the world on my own pace for now. And maybe also take the Hunter Exam too eventually. Then I could help you with your job." Sora grinned and swung her bag on her shoulders. "And I want to become stronger and explore my Nen abilities without all that racket."_

_Her brother laughed. He agreed wholeheartedly with the last statement._

"_Just give proper goodbyes for them." He told her._

"_Even to that creep?" Sora pouted._

"_This is probably the only time you'll see him for a while. Same with the rest of them." He patted her shoulder consolingly. _

"_Yeah… I promise to keep contact with you all though even if you don't see me."_

"_Good, otherwise they'd hunt you down and kill you."_

"_No, they wouldn't! I'm their little sister; they wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Well, maybe shorty but no one else really."_

_They laughed as they made their way to the empty room where all their friends were playing cards. Some of them looked up as they approached and once Sora's backpack was noticed, uproar arose._

"_I'm leaving now. See you in two years." The girl smiled. It was time to leave York Shin._

* * *

**A/N: Two flashbacks! Yay! I feel like I've made quite obvious who Sora is... Well, I can't help it anymore. She'll figure it out eventually.**

**Please don't kill me for making Sora win Killua so easily. But if you consider her past that you most likely have already figured out, it kind of makes sense. And in next chapter's flashback you'll know more about her abilities and training during those two years she was travelling.**

**Oh, and the shoulder is important. Keep an eye on it.**

**Review replies... None. You guys are amazing. You read and subscribe but no one bothers to say a word...**

**Well see you someday again.**


	8. Orange

**A/N: Hello everyone and sorry this took such a long time. But I decided to write this one up. I think it was the time to wrap up this story arc. What do you think? ;)**

**I noticed I have a few new subscriptions and such. Thank you very much. :D**

**But now to the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 8  
Orange: Parting the ways**

The Orientation was boring to say the least. Sora spent the majority of it by staring idly out of the window from her seat on the back row. She twirled her brand new Hunter License in her fingers. Gon wasn't there yet. But he was most likely awake. Kurapika and Leorio seemed to be ready to make their complaint about Killua being manipulated. But Sora spoke first.

"What is Bodoro-san's condition?" She asked, not turning her gaze away from the windows and rudely interrupting Beans. The secretary blinked a couple of times before glancing at Netero. No one spoke. The girl turned her head slightly and shifted her gaze on the examiners on the front of the room.

"I asked: 'What is Bodoro-san's condition?'." Her voice lacked any emotion and in a way it was more frightening than one full of rage. She flipped her License in the air and caught it again in the similar manner than Hisoka could've handled his cards. Maybe it was due the likeness of use between her knives and his cards that made her play with the License…

"Bodoro is still in a hospital in a critical condition. The immediate danger has passed though." Netero replied calmly.

"Good." Sora stated and turned back to staring out of the window. It was now Kurapika and Leorio's turn to speak.

* * *

The door on the back of the room slammed open. Gon walked into the room. His hand was in a sling and he wasn't wearing his green jacket. When people saw him, no one said anything. The boy walked the stairs of the seat rows down and stood right next to Illumi who ignored him. The boy was angry. No, he was beyond furious.

"Apologize to Killua!" The kid demanded. This got the assassin's attention.

"Apologize? For what?"

"You don't know what you did wrong?"¨

"Nope."

"You don't have the right to be his brother."

"Must I earn the right to be his brother?

That, if possible, angered Gon even more. The boy grabbed Illumi's arm and swung him up in the air. Everyone just stared in surprise. The long-haired man landed softly behind the boy and the staring contest began.

"He doesn't need to earn the right to be my friend!" Gon squeezed the assassin's forearm with about all of his strength, gaining even a slight reaction from the man. "Don't bother apologizing. Just take me to see Killua."

"What will you do then?" Illumi questioned.

"That should be obvious… I'm gonna rescue Killua!"

"You make it sound as though I kidnapped him. He walked away on his own."

"But it wasn't by choice. He was manipulated by you people. It's the same thing as kidnapping him!"

"We happened to be discussing this very subject, Gon." Netero stepped in. "Kurapika and Leorio have both lodged committee has been discussing the fairness of Killua's disqualification…"

Kurapika got up from his seat. "Killua had been behaving in strange manner during and since his battle with the man who called himself Gittarackur. I believe that he was hypnotized into committing a murder which Sora-san managed to intercept. I understand that under normal circumstances it would be impossible to use hypnosis to induce a person to kill… However, as Killua was raised in a family of assassins, murder was a part of his life, so it's natural that he would lack the ethical restraint of most!"

"I want to mention that the attack happened during the match between Bodoro and me. It's possible that he was trying to help me." Leorio added from his place from the row behind the Kurta's. "Given that, the one who should be disqualified is me."

"In any case…" Kurapika continued. "Killua was not in control of his own actions thus he should not have been disqualified."

"That is mere speculation." Netero sighed, turning around and returning to his place. "There is no proof. There were no clear signs of manipulation. In fact, I would question the claim that he was hypnotized. I agree that the incident occurred after the battle between Leorio and Bodoro had begun. At that point, both fighters were evenly matched. Bodoro had more experience but in terms of raw combat ability, Leorio was the stronger. There was no need for Killua's interfere."

"True, but that's beside the point. If Killua was indeed hypnotized, the order might've as well been to kill anyone of us. His subconscious just picked the appropriate target." Sora spoke up. There were people who he saw clearly to be better and stronger than him, people he shouldn't go after, like Hisoka, Hanzo or me and naturally Illumi too. Then there were people who he saw at least somehow as acquaintances, meaning Kurapika and Leorio. Plus Gon who he wouldn't hurt in any circumstances. By this process, it left only Pokkle and Bodoro as targets. Since Bodoro was clearly badly injured from his fight with Hisoka it left him an impression of him being easily disposed.

"About the manipulation itself… Any _proper_ Hunter with _eyes_ in their heads could've _seen_ what happened. After all it's a known fact that some people are capable of manipulating things or even other people. And it's also known that things that one has a strong emotional bond to are easier to control. So it isn't exactly farfetched to think that Killua _was_ indeed manipulated." Sora finished. People were staring. Some because they understood and were either confused or afraid, some because they didn't understand a word. Either way the silence was… so thick one could practically touch it.

"I probably should read less books…" The girl muttered and averted her eyes from all of them, returning to her gazing out-of-the-window. She hoped that last statement would ease the suspicions of her knowledge. After all she wasn't supposed to know about Nen(probably) and even less about the extent of Illumi's abilities. After that Pokkle was the first one to speak again, pointing out the strangeness of Kurapika's fight. Other applicants put their input too until Gon interrupted once again.

"None of that matters!" The boy shouted. "It's pointless to argue over whether someone should have passed. If you aren't happy about passing, keep working until you're satisfied. If Killua retakes the Hunter Exam, he'll definitely pass! It's unfortunate that he failed this time but it is what it is." He squeezed Illumi's arm again. "What does matter… if you've been forcing Killua to kill, against his will, all this time, I'll make you pay!"

"Make me pay?" The assassin questioned. "What exactly will you do?"

"I won't do anything. Only, once I rescue Killua, I'll never let you see him again!"

At that Illumi reached out with his free hand to touch and maybe also manipulate Gon too. But the boy jumped away, out of his reach.

"Ahem." Netero coughed. "Is everyone finished?" Meddling old man… "Gon is absolutely correct. You must decide for yourselves if you were worthy of passing. You may complain about the results all you like, but we will not be changing our minds. Killua has been disqualified. And the rest of you have passed the exam."

Then it was Beans turn to explain all the stuff the Hunter License could do. Sora tuned out at that. She would just make sure she had enough money and showed around her card and she'd be just fine…

And Netero announced the eight of them officially as the new Hunters. That's it. End of story. Time to write the next chapter…

* * *

Sora shrugged on her bag and secured the staff on her back. She also had two pouches on her waist where she had her knives. She made her way to outside where the remaining trio were talking about the Kukuroo Mountain. The blonde approached them.

"Ah, Sora-san." Gon greeted her with his familiar smile plastered on his face.

"Gon-kun." She acknowledged with a nod. "Good to see you up and about."

"Yeah. I heard about your match. It sounded incredible."

"Is that so? Thank you."

"Are you leaving now?" Kurapika asked.

"I am. I need to take a better look on my own abilities and probably find a good teacher…" The girl muttered. She couldn't say too much as the trio wasn't supposed to know about Nen yet. "Not to mention money…"

"Why would you need a teacher?" Leorio frowned. "I saw your match. You were brilliant. So why…?"

Sora chuckled. "Alright. I'll tell you two. Gon-kun and Killua already know but the thing is… I have amnesia. Memory loss is probably a better term but in any case I don't remember anything prior Hunter Exam. I hurt my head and up until now I've recovered some things via flashbacks but they are too far for me to get a good grasp on my past. Which also means that I don't know the real extent of my abilities either and I've worked on via muscle memory and instincts…"

"Oh…" The two were quiet. Apparently this was something they hadn't expected.

"So now I'll need to find a trustworthy teacher to help me so I can get on to work as an Information Hunter."

"How about your family?" Trust Kurapika to ask that question.

"Well… I have an older brother. But my parents are dead. Mother died due some illness and father… Something happened to him too. Right now there's a group of people as good as a family but they don't know. I don't want them to worry. Especially when I don't remember them. It's a bit contradictory, don't you think?" Sora grinned.

"Well, good luck then." The Kurta smiled. The to-be-doctor nodded and the porcupine kid gave the girl a hug. "Let's stay in contact."

"Sure."

* * *

"I was surprised to see that you are such a good friend with them… But considering the circumstances I understand now..." The voice spoke. Sora froze in mid-step. She'd been walking under the archways when passing one of the pillars when she'd been notified about the presence of a second person. She straightened her back and glanced sideways at the person leaning against the stone structure.

"For some reason I'm not surprised at all to know that you know something." She stated coldly.

"Memory loss… It does explain a lot. I was skeptical at first when I looked at you. You knew things, you recognized things… but you didn't identify their connections to you. In the middle of the first Phase was a brilliant example. You knew once again what would happen, I've heard about your 'sixth sense' but at the same time you didn't realize where your place in it was. And I did notice the way you looked at me afterwards. It was confusion, instead of fear."

"Is that so…" Sora muttered quietly. "What do you want then… Hisoka?"

"Nothing." The clown took a step away from the pillar and closer to the girl. She refused to budge an inch. She refused to show how terrified she actually was. "Nothing yet…" A hand was placed on her injured shoulder. Sora still didn't move.

"Then why approach me?"

"With you like this… Things will certainly be interesting." A finger trailed down the bandage. "I just wonder if you have noticed it yourself yet…"

Sora didn't like this at all. Not at all… She took a step, ready to turn around and face the creepy magician, but the hand on her shoulder prevented her from moving. The nails were dangerously close to her neck…

"It's a pity that I'm not allowed to fight you… But there's one rule above '_your family's_' coin flipping… And that's 'No one hurts Sora'." The last sentence was whispered ominously to her ear. That sentence made her freeze completely. Not only that rule but also the term… coin flipping.

"_No… No, no, no… It can't be true. It's impossible. He must be lying. Just to mess up with my head…"_

"Don't worry. I won't tell them about your predicament. It'll be less fun like that. But I trust to see you soon." And with that the hand was away, the presence was away… Sora spun around to see empty archway. Hisoka was gone. And while he hadn't exactly threatened her…

* * *

The girl dashed out of the hotel. She needed to get away from the creep as soon as possible. But the things he implied…

"No. It's impossible. He knew I'd react like this. He is a compulsive liar. He doesn't actually know anything…" Sora kept muttering while she ran. "He knows nothing!"

But who was she trying to fool? Only herself. But… Sora stopped to catch her breath. Apparently she was still capable of physical strain occasionally. God only knew what that Troll-Guide was thinking… If even they.

* * *

Sora made her way to the high way leading to the airport. It was jammed. Well, had a traffic jam. It was already late evening. The setting sun was dying the sky beautiful burning orange. It was marking the beginning and the ending. The true beginning of Sara's – Sora's – new life. And the end of her previous one. It was time for her to leave behind what she had had and accept what she had now before her.

"Whatever it is… I'm sure I'll be just fine. I'll just be me and live this new life of mine." Sierra chuckled. "Mother, I'm smiling…" She began running the ledge next to the high way down towards the airport. "I'm smiling…

* * *

It was some random flight away from the city. Sora didn't pay attention when she bought the ticket. She only wanted out and rest properly. And probably find out where are possibly the rest of her belongings… she possibly couldn't only have one bag of stuff. But at the moment it didn't matter.

Sora leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes slowly. She could as well sleep now. The flight would take several hours after all.

* * *

_Sora had left York Shin behind some hours ago. She looked down at the scenery so, so small and smiled. It was always equally exiting to travel with an airship. But this time… This time she was alone. All the previous times she'd been with her brother. Or someone else from their 'family'. But she wasn't worried or felt lonely. Actually, she was even more excited. Sora knew it might be odd in some people's eyes that she was already eighteen and this was the first time she travelled alone but she also knew that there were people who'd never travel alone. Those spoiled rich prats flanked by servants and bodyguards. Those bastards who'd never needed to do anything themselves. Sora resented them. They were pitiful. They knew no real pain and acted like even the smallest spot in their 'perfect' world was a worth of a natural disaster. And then they caused everyone else misery just so they could feel better._

"_But… while they don't know real pain, they don't know real happiness either…" The blonde mused, still gazing lazily outside._

* * *

_The glass was filled with clear water and a small leaf was floating on the surface. Sora sat down on the forest floor and placed her hands either side of the glass._

"_Alright. Whenever you are ready, use Ren." A quite young female voice told opposite her. Sora's gaze shifted for a moment on the dark pink dress before focusing on the glass and its contents._

"_Yes, Krueger-san…"_

_Biscuit laughed. "I've told you to call me Bisky."_

"_I know." Sora smiled before closing her eyes and focusing on everything the younger-than-she-looks woman had taught her this far. Power pulsed through her and the girl opened her eyes. The leaf had begun to move. First slowly around its own axis but then faster and faster, sinking to the water and disappearing. Sora raised her hands of the glass in surprise. "Wha-…?"_

"_Congratulations, Sora-chan. You are a Specialist." Biscuit told the girl with a smile. "And what it seems, your abilities should lean heavily towards manipulation."_

"_My brother is a manipulator." Sora stated thoughtfully._

"_In some cases the Nen types run in the family." The golden-haired young woman stood up and dusted her dress. "I'll leave you here to think what you would like to do with your Nen. In cases like Specialist the guidelines are always quite vague but I'm sure you can come up with something. I rather not affect your decision."_

"_Alright. Thanks… Bisky-san."_

* * *

_She trained hard under Biscuit's teachings. She was a fast according to the woman. A polished Aquamarine. Sora didn't know what to make of those gemstone references… After all it had been such an accident that the two of them had met._

_But months and months had passed with Sora perfecting her techniques and practicing the advanced techniques. For her luck she was in good shape since when needed, Biscuit could be truly ruthless teacher. It all paid off though. Sora became stronger. She enjoyed it. Being capable of taking care of herself and others if the need was ever to be._

_And thus it was time for her and Biscuit to depart and continue their own ways. Sora was confident though that they'd meet again. The woman was good company. Maybe a bit full of herself sometimes but good person anyways. And that's what mattered to Sora. Being a good person. She was a good one. Biscuit was a good one. And as long as Sora was concerned, her family was full of good people too. Sure they had their squabbles and did dubious and illegal things in the eyes of the rest of the world but… they cared for each other, they were family. They joked, they argued, they shared secrets, kept secrets… but most of all… they stuck together no matter what._

_For Sora's relief, Biscuit had never questioned her past but she supposed that in the world of Hunters' there were a lot of people who rather not talked about things that used to be. Who knew… maybe some people tried to become Hunters to forget everything bad that had happened to them previously._

* * *

"So… Specialist…" Sora muttered once she'd woken up. "This makes things a lot easier."

Since she apparently had trained under Biscuit quite properly prior the Hunter Exam, she felt more confident that before. After all her muscle memory had brought her this far. Now she knew what she was looking for so it should be easier to recover it all.

"I think I have quite a good idea what I made my talent to be." A small smile graced her lips as she recalled the result of her water divination and some of the mangas she'd read back in her world, especially the one of ridiculous and brilliant pirates and one Surgeon of Death.

* * *

**A/N: Ta-da! Kudos to everyone who can figure out Sora's Hatsu. I kinda hinted it but it was quite obscure... Oh who got the reference in the chapter title? HP or DW fans anywhere? **

**As you can see, Sora won't be part of the Zoldyck estate arc. Personally I found it tedious one... And I don't really see how she could benefit of the training at all.**

**And Hisoka was being creep once again. I really want to get away from him. And he quite balantly hinted who Sora is/was. Let's see how that'll turn out then...**

**Replies to Reviews:**

**-basecannon:  
Oh yes... that'll be a bit tricky. I have plans but mostly she'll try to remain at least somewhat neutral. But she wants answers so...**

**-witch of blood:  
Thank you very much!**

**-DreameroftheRealm:  
Yeah. I think there's no use of denying it anymore... And of course he is the shorty! :D**

**-Guest:  
Thank you. Glad to hear that.**

**-shugokage:  
Thank you. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like this one.**

**-ryu akai:  
Update is here!  
I don't know how much I'll actually write up what pairing since romance isn't my forte but this far SoraxKurapika seems the most likely. Although I do like her interractions with Leorio too... Never mind...**


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